Holocaust Study Tour

Day 12 - Krakow

2011-04-22T11:50:00.016-04:00

Today we spent the day with our guide, Ewa, walking and learning the history of Krakow and the Wawel Castle district. After walking through the square, we walked up the hill to Wawel. The flowers are in full bloom everywhere, on this sunny, beautiful day.

We enter the Wawel Cathedral, and silently walk through, since many people are inside praying today, Good Friday. Here is the burial place of Polish kings and rulers. We visit downstairs, underneath the cathedral, where the sarcophogus of Jan Kazynski and his wife, who were killled in the plane crash last year at this time.

From here, we walk down the hill toward Jagellonian University, the oldest university in Poland. We enter into a guided tour of this place, where students once included Copernicus and John Paul II.

From here, we go back to the square, and enjoy and afternoon that includes lunch and shopping for souvenirs from beautiful, hospitable Krakow.

Final Reflections Holocaust Study Tour 2011

Sarah S. says ... The Holocaust Study Tour was definately an experience I will never forget. I laughed, I cried, and discovered my identity. I have gained more knowledge of my heritage, more common sense, and more friends. Celebrating a Jewish holiday in a Jewish community in the Czech Republic was the highlight of my trip that will stay with me forever. Thank you to all of the teachers and my family members for making this possible, but most of all, my grandfather.

Sarah P. says ... This trip provided experiences that I would have never imagined being in. Although the places and locations were distinct on their own, the emotions they provided varied from anything I have ever felt before. Willingness from survivors and the exposure of Holocaust sites unfolded a tragic history that was new to me.

Saidie says ... Given the oppotunity to actually come to Europe is incredible by itself. Adding the information learned and places seen makes it even better. Knowledge was obtained and emotions were everywhere. This made me comprehend the Holocaust history much more than I could imagine. This was an experience of a lifetime and opened my eyes much more and taught me things that a textbook and the internet cannot.

Brenton says ... This trip has been absolutely extraordinary. The things you see and discuss as a group on this tour cannot be experienced in a classroom. This trip has given me the ability to view my own life and the lives of others from a whole new perspective.

Ashley says ... I have learned so much these past two weeks. I have a new view on life. This trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget.

Theresa says ... This trip definitely taught me a lot about the history of the Holocaust, the importance of life, and who I am. I thought I was so prepared, but it turned out I wasn't emotionally prepared for all we saw. I am so grateful I got to go on this life changing trip because not only did I learn a lot, but I gained 21 new friends.

Francesca says ... Coming on this trip I really had no idea what to expect. After spending two weeks here I can honestly say it changed my outlook on life. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime that I would do again.

Deanne says ... These past two weeks were a learning experience of a lifetime. As our trip comes to an end, I reflect on everything I was taught, my new friendships and a whole new perspective on history.

Michelle says ... As cliche as it might sound, I have really seen the beauty of freedom and life itself. But most importantly, I have learned the importance of forgiveness and the strength to move on from the past.

Jessica says ... Of all the things I have done in my life, this trip has been the most significant. There wasn't a moment where I wasn't learning something. I can honestly say I look at the Holocaust in a completely different way and I will use my knowledge to make sure it never happens again.

Celina says... This trip has really opened my eyes to the acceptance of one's past. Countries affected by the Holocaust have utilized their past histories to teach others tolerance. I am now firmly committed to my goal of working with global development because I have seen what indifference really is and how one indvidual can change the world for better or for worse.

Nick says ... Condensing the lessons that I have learned from this trip into one succinct paragraph is nearly impossible -- there have been so many noteworthy things this trip has granted me. Not only have I gained a much deeper understanding of the Holocaust I have been exposed to cultures of Europe. This experiential learning opportunity has allowed our group to learn about humanity and its potential. It is clear to me that it is our responsibility to pass on the knowledge of the Holocaust.

Reagan says ... The most fascinating and important thing I learned on this trip is what warning signs lead to such a tragedy. However small the action, all acts of dehumaization and intolerance can lead to catastrophic conclusions. By dissecting the choices made during this complex and heartbreaking event, we can understand what roads to avoid as a society.

Cherilyn says ... This trip has opened my mind to so much new knowledge and has inspired me to learn even more. I have learned so much about the Holocaust and European history that I was unaware of before. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go on this once-in-a-lifetime learning experience.

Sammy says ... Going on this trip and learning as much as we did was truly a life changing experience. We haven't even gotten home yet, but I know I am going to be an entirely different person. I will never forget all that I saw, everything that Shalmi taught us and all that I have learned about myself.

DaiQuan says ... The Holocaust Study Tour trip gives an opportunity to students to learn the history of Europe. It gives students an opportunity to change minds for the better. This trip gives knowledge and emotions to empathize with people who were persecuted during the Holocaust.

Casey says ... This once-in-a-lifetime experience is one I will never soon forget. I have learned so much about the Holocaust, myself, and others. I have made amazing friends and had so much fun learning about things you would never find in a textbook. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to go on this trip.

Lilibeth says ... This trip is a milestone in my life. It gave me the power and inspiration to change myself and the world around me. It has given me the knowledge and power to give hope to our new generation and keep our history alive and well-known.

Kasandra says ... Just like what I had intended it to be, this trip has opened my eyes to a whole new world of so much history. It taught me about not only the Holocaust, but the history of visited cities, and how much we take for granted. These past two weeks brought me to the conclusion that this is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and I am so grateful to have been a part of it!

Greg says ... This trip has been a unique learning experience. I have learned so much history about the Holocaust and Europe and I have experienced a great deal of European culture. Now that the this trip is almost over, I have so much knowledge about myself and the Holocaust that I can apply to my own life.

Mackenzie says ... Unforgettable -- that is the best way to describe my experience. The Holocaust Study Tour taught me more than I ever hope to know about not only the Holocaust, but also the European countries involved at the time. During two intense educational and exciting weeks, 22 students, 4 teachers and Shalmi came together to form a tight-knit family of which I am so grateful to be a member.

Jordan says ... I have been so lucky to have the opportunity to go on such an amazing trip. I have learned so much more about the Holocaust than ever before. This trip has changed my outlook on life and inspired me to continue my learning about the Holocaust.

Day 11 - Krakow

2011-04-21T11:25:00.055-04:00

As we began our scheduled day this morning, we could not have forseen the special and rare encounters that our group would, by chance, experience today!

Our day began in the Jewish Quarter, Kazmierz. Shalmi gave us the history of why large numbers of Jews came to Poland in the 16th century when they were invited by the aristrocracy. Jews came here and formed communities called shtetls in the rural, mostly unpopulated areas. Jews provided capital for the seeds that needed to be planted, and also had a monopoly on the sale of vodka. According to Shalmi, Poles really like alcohol, so this became very lucrative. Because Jews were protected property of the sovereign, and they collected taxes from the local peasants, and they controlled the sale of alcohol, the local peasants became resentful. Fueled by their simple education, mainly by the Church, they viewed Jews as Christ killers and periodally acted out their resentment in antisemitic acts.

Inside the Stara Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, we learned about the history of Hasidism, a part of Judaism that reflects emotional piety of the people who practice it. From here we visited the Remu Synagogue, where Shalmi explained the first hyperlinks, contained inside religious texts. Outside of this synagogue, we walked through the Jewish cemetary, where Jews were given land to bury their dead.

As we walked down the sidewalk, Shalmi ran into a friend, Jonathan Ornstein, the director of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Krakow, who invited us inside his center. He explained that the primary function of his center is to promote a thriving Jewish community, only 40 minutes from Auschwitz, where the doors are wide open to anyone who wants to come in. This center, dedicated in 2008 by Prince Charles of Great Britain, shows an optimism, and even though some of the members lived through the Holocaust, and are Holocaust survivors, the label isn't all that they are. They are people who overcame, and went on to have families, professions, and most importantly, they live.

After a quick lunch at McDonalds, we went to the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow. The Nazis forced the Jews to move away from their Kazmierz neighborhood, to a section of Krakow across the river. This ghetto was a sleeping ghetto--Jews left during the day to work in factories. From the museum that once was the pharmacy of Tadeusz Pankiewicz, we looked out over the open memorial, with chairs, that represent the furniture that the Jews carried over the bridge into these cramped quarters, where 17,000 people crowded into 320 houses.

From here we drove by Oscar Schindler's factory, a recently painted and newly opened part of the Jewish Museum of Krakow. We stopped to look at part of the original ghetto wall, which was built by Jews, and shows an ornate style.

We ended the day at the Plaszow Camp, which was built by the people from the Krakow Ghetto who believed they would survive the war because they are building a labor camp. They even built a barrack for children there, so they believed that their families would remain intact. However, on March 13, 1943, all Jews from the ghetto were supposed to report to the square at 7:00 a.m. Once there, all children under age 14 were told to line up separately. Their parents were told that they would come to Plaszow the next day. Those who didn't believe them rushed to the pharmacy and purchases one of two drugs: 1. Valerium--a drug that put their babies to sleep, so that a few parents could smuggle their babies into the Plaszow camp. 2. Cyanide, for suicide. At 1:00 p.m., the Nazis ordered those not in the children's line to start marching from the ghetto to Plaszow. They left behind what they were unable to carry. Their children were taken away and shot. Two days later, some parents were forced to sort the children's clothing, and found the clothing of their own children.

Who would have thought, even for a moment, that our day in Krakow would end with us inside the villa of Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow Concentration Camp, where Spielberg filmed parts of Schindler's List? After visiting the area of the camp where today lay the ruins of the Jewish Burial Hall and a memorial to Sarah Schenirer (this is the area of the camp that the HST 2009 participants cleaned up), we walked to the villa of Amon Goeth. While looking at the house from the street, we saw a gentleman come out of the doorway and wave us up the walkway. We, of course, approached the house with Shalmi and Ewa, our Polish guide, and immediately took him up on his offer to come inside. This man is the current owner and resident of the villa who is hoping to sell the house to the museum community of Krakow. This was an incredible chance meeting that demonstrates the importance of experiential learning and its possibility for rare opportunities that become profound teachable moments. Shalmi, Ewa and our group have never been inside the villa because it is privately owned. How fortuitous that we were walking down the street and the owner happened to see us standing outside his house and welcomed us inside.

After this completely surreal experience inside Amon Goeth's villa, we returned to the hotel to say goodbye to our historian, our guide and our friend, Shalmi.

Student Reflections:

Reagan says... Today I was really inspired by Jonathan and his work at the JCC in Krakow. I can't imagine how challenging a task it must be to rebuild a community that faced so much horror in recent history. It is incredible what he and his team have accomplished there. Through promoting an atmosphere of positivity, optimism and tolerance they have made much progress in rejuvinating a Jewish-Polish identity that its members can be proud of.

Casey says... Tonight we discussed whether Goeth's house near the Plaszow site should become a museum or not. Personally, I felt that making it a museum would make it seem too sanitized. I would much rather it have some sort of small commemoration plaque to recognize its historic value.

Jordan says... Today when we visited Goeth's villa, we were unexpectedly invited in by the owner. There was a for sale sign on the front of the house. The owner expressed his goal to have the villa turned into a museum. However, I disagree with the owner's intent because I am not clear on what the museum would represent.

DaiQuan says... The JCC is a community center that serves the city of Krakow in Poland. Its purpose is to bring change to the community of Krakow. It gives the community hope that Jewish life in Poland can be revived. Also, it brings life to people who need it and who are looking for a new beginning.

Day 10 - Auschwitz

2011-04-20T12:41:00.046-04:00

After breakfast, we load our luggage on the bus, and drive the short distance to Auschwitz I, which prior to the Holocaust, was used as a military base by the Poles. Our guide tells us that the only thing the Nazis had to do to turn it into a concentration camp was to put up the fence. We pause at the gate, again reading the sign "Arbeit Macht Frei" and learn that here, prisoners played music as their fellow inmates marched to and from work sites. This made it easier for the guards to count them as they exited and returned.

We experience more of the surreal, as the sun shines brightly, the birds sing, and butterflies alight on the dandelions and purple flowers in full bloom. All of us feel heavy with emotion. Here in this museum, we learn about the killing machine, and how, when keeping the Jews of Poland in ghettos was not enough for the Nazis, they needed to expand the camp, and added Auschwitz II, Birkenau.

After lunch, we go to Birkenau. As we pass through the gate, Shalmi, again guiding us through our Holocaust journey, points out The Ramp. Memories of those who survived Auschwitz/Birkenau were divided in two: life before The Ramp, and life after The Ramp. The Ramp is as much a part of Jewish history as Mount Sinai--which is where according to one rabbi, Jews should have taken God to account. Here Jews can echo the words that were written in the hidden synagogue in Theresienstadt: "God, we remembered you. Don't forget us." The rabbi felt that because of the Holocaust, the original covenant between God and the Jewish people should be renegotiated.

Birkenau reflects a modern way of killing. No one person is the actual killer. People do their own little part and feel disconnected from the process. Each person plays a part, from the train conductor to the person who opens the railcars, to the SS officer doing the selection. People do their own little part and feel disconnected from the process. They don't see themselves as killers, so who should take responsibility?

Student Reflections:

Reagan says. . .Imagination. That’s it. It’s the only thing that I could manage at Auschwitz today. It wasn’t the fact that I was afraid of feeling pain or fear, but it was the only thing my brain could do. Today, I didn’t smell the burning flesh, the whips cracking, or the people screaming from starvation. My emotions were just frozen, for what I was seeing went beyond my own comprehension. Understanding Auschwitz completely is an impossibility for anyone who didn’t experience its malice at the hands of another soul. What I do understand about Auschwitz, however, is the fact that there is nothing natural, or normal, or righteous about it. Auschwitz, for that reason and many more, is a milestone for humanity.

Michelle says. . ..One of the most striking moments I had today was learning the process of the Jewish people who arrived at Auschwitz. Within the first couple minutes upon arrival, their fate was decided. If they were lucky enough to live, they were taken to a sauna, to “disinfect” them, and strip them of their identity. From their very first moments, to their severe living conditions, to their extermination, the Jews were treated as an infection, rather than people. Walking through the most awful conditions of the Jews' everyday lives, I found it extremely difficult to comprehend where the Jews found the unimaginable hope and strength to survive.

Jordan says. . .Today when visiting Auschwitz and walking through the camp I noticed two children running in the tall grass and picking flowers. Then I noticed that the flowers they were picking were growing in the drainage systems that the prisoners were forced to dig. Whenever I thought of a concentration camp I imagined loud trains, screaming and terror. Although at that moment I realized that people cannot go to a place like Auschwitz expecting to see what you see in movies or what people have told you because if you do, your expectations will not compare to the feeling you get when you walk through a surreal place like Auschwitz.

Saidie says. . .Auschwitz: So much to say, not enough space. Building, funding, and supplying their own death is the irony of it all. To be on the same ground that millions of Jews once walked upon to their death is completely mindboggling to me. In Auschwitz, tears rolled down my face when I witnessed the attire, the valuables and the two tons of human hair shaved off women's heads before and after their death. Entering Birkenau, once we all stepped into the camp and stood behind the barbed wire. I felt like a prisoner myself. The sensation of fear running through me was intense.

Mackenzie says. . .Entering the gates of Auschwitz, everything felt incredibly surreal. After years of reading books, looking at pictures, visiting musuems, and watching movies, passing through the gates of Auschwitz was truly the defning moment in my study of the Holocaust. From touching the original rusty barbed wire to seeing the seemingly endless pile of human hair, I have never felt such an overwhelming stream of emotion overcome me. However, the single-most unexpected thing that genuinely stuck out to me the most was a simple cheesegrater. While in the room filled with kitchen utensils, I came across a cabinet that contained an average household cheesegrater. I found myself staring at the item for several minutes--completely entranced by its strange familiarity. You see, it was at this very moment that I realized this was the exact same cheesegrater we have in my very own home. Though silly and trivial, this simple item was a physical representation of how innocent and truly humane the Jews and other victims were. Though I am not Jewish, I connected to the Jews, for that cheesegrater exemplified the idea that no matter what, the Jews were normal humans just like me. Seeing such artifcats, observing the gas chamber remains, and passing under the infamous "Abriet Macht Frei" sign all epitomized the overall notion that the Holocaust was undoubtedly a question of humanity in the world.

Casey says. . .One thing that impacted me today was the two tons of human hair, all placed behind a wall of glass in Auschwitz. I knew what was coming when we headed towards the area, but once I crossed the threshold of the room I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach; I'll never forget how I felt walking in there. The sight of the hair-- two whole tons of hair--knocked the breath out of me. The feelings I had today in that space are not ones I'll forget anytime soon.

Kasandra says. . .Today at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Shalmi was telling us a story of a little boy and his mother, which really got to me. He was telling us that when this family was on the train on the way to this camp, this little boy's sister was annoying him, and therefore, he pushed her. After doing so, his mother slapped him and told him to stay away from them. As they got off the train car, the little boy's mother took his sister's hand and the two of them walked away. The little boy was so furious with his mother and sister for not talking to him and walking away, that he screamed out to them, "I HOPE YOU DIE!" After hearing this, I could feel tears just pouring from my eyes and down onto the floor. Noticing this, I realized how many tears may have fell on that ground and after the story was over I was just so overwhelmed. I was questioning myself about that little boy and how he felt after finding out where he was and what happened there. I can't even imagine wishing death on my family, and I came to the conclusion that if I were that little boy, I could never forgive myself.

Francesca says. . .Trying to put everything I've seen today into words seems almost impossible. Driving up to the camp was extremely overwhelming when I saw how big Auschwitz-Birkenau really was. Sitting on the bus after leaving the camp I had tried to picture the people who, to this day, believe the Holocaust had never happened. There was so much evidence surrounding me today that I cannot comprehend how these people have the nerve to say it never happened. Seeing the human hair, the prosthetic legs, and the cans of Zyklon B in Auschwitz I is enough to prove this. You need to be there to feel it. You must walk along the tracks, look into the barracks, and see the ruins of the crematorium to feel the fear that the people taken there had to go through. There will never be an adjective, picture, or textbook that could ever even begin to explain what I saw today.

Jessica says. . .Today was a very revealing day, reading about Auschwitz and actually being there are two very completely different things. Those textbook pages that I've read came to life, emotion was added and it became so real to me. I felt shivers in Birkenau as I realized that I was walking in the same place that so many Jews lost their lives and I was looking at the same places that they once did. What impacted me the most was seeing all their belongings that the Nazis kept, it was like their possessions meant more to them than actual human beings did. Jews were killed but their hair was shaven and sold, their clothing, shoes, kitchen supplies, and so many other things were given to Germans or sold. It was incredible to me that human life wasn't as valuable as simple material things.

Sammy says. . .I knew that even before we visited the museum in Auschwitz it would hit me hard, but it turned out to be much worse than I had expected. After seeing the endless piles of victim’s hair through the glass display, I felt sick to my stomach. After visiting Auschwitz and seeing the victim’s many belongings, barracks, and the gas chambers, it really all jumped out at me and came to life.

Celina says. . .There was one photo on the wall of the women’s barrack, where the woman looked defiantly into the camera with an expression that said “You will not break me." Amidst hundreds of broken faces, her name was Wanda and she only survived a few short weeks in Auschwitz. The only Wanda I could think of was the movie A Fish Called Wanda, which is my mother’s favorite movie. It made me think of how my mother would be equally defiant behind that camera, and if I could stare down my oppressors with just as much spirit as my mother and Wanda.

Sarah S. says. . .The fact that my grandfather and his family could have been working in the concentration camps or sent to Birkenau, the death camp, really hit me hard. These were real people with real stories with the vast are that our group witnessed today. There were approximately ten members of my family that perish in camps, but their stories are unknown. If my late grandfather hadn't escaped and survived I would not be here today. In a way the journey through Auschwitz made me feel a sense of relief that I am alive; however, it left me with sorrow for those in my family who did not. The importance of continuing this history is a life long journey.

Greg says. . .I was amazed at the story of the Sinti and Roma both before and during the war. I learned that Sinti are from Northeast Europe and that the Roma are from Southwest Europe, but that both are guessed to be from India. The exhibit had detailed information on the treatment of the Sinti and Roma before the war and how that treatment lend to the concentration camps. While some people cared about what happened to the Jews no one cared about what happened to the Sinti and Roma.

Theresa says. . .Right when I walked into Auschwitz II - Birkenau, my jaw dropped...I could not believe what I was seeing. I have seen so many pictures of this camp and studied about it a lot, but nothing can prepare someone for what you see there. I couldn't help but imagine the camp full of the victims, and that killed me emotionally. The day was so emotionally draining; however, one of the most life-changing days of my life.

Lilibeth says. . .As I entered Auschwitz II known as Birkenau, I saw this beautiful place that held many terrible , horrible stories. Seeing the flowers all over the camp, I saw it as a way nature gives its condolences to all the deaths that happen in these camps. I see it in this way because their deaths were never given the respect they needed or should have been given.

Deanne says. . .Auschwitz had to be the most uncomfortable place I have ever been in. Walking through this huge camp I tried to imagine myself in the shoes of the victims in the Holocaust. Seeing real shoes, hair, train tracks, barracks, train cars, and crematoriums I started to get queasy. Words can’t even explain the sickening feeling I had knowing that I was in a camp where such horrible terror took place.

Cherilyn says. . .As I was sitting in the area called “Canada,” looking out at Auschwitz II, I began to think about my birthday, and I started to think about the birthdays of the prisoners. I began to wonder how the prisoners would have felt on their birthdays. Would they be happy to survive another year, would they wish they were dead and no longer suffering, would their wish have been for freedom, or would they have been too numb to feel anything? I thought of how many people would never celebrate their birthday and how many children would never reach their seventeenth birthday. I almost felt guilty that I could recognize my birthday and they never would again.

Nick says. . .While in one of the tattered women’s barracks of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Shalmi told us the story of Sila, a barrack Elder that allowed power to corrupt her previously kind, pious self. Sila was originally a fragile, gorgeous young sixteen year old Jewish girl when she first entered Auschwitz, but like for many other Elders and Kapos, the traumatizing camp life transformed her genial persona into a cold-blooded one – one focused only on self-conversation and survival. She had managed to undergo a monumental transformation within two years, changing from a kind young girl to a ruthless, callous woman.

In the story lies a lesson of human nature. When exhaustion becomes overwhelming, fear of death constant, and hunger ravenous, people change from benevolent humans to selfish animals. Deep down, all of humanity holds basic animalistic instincts – instincts that care only for self-conservation, even if the preservation of one’s self entails killing for bed space, killing because an SS officer said so, or killing for a small piece of bread. We can all “degenerate” into real animals if our lives truly depend on it, clear in the camp life of Auschwitz.

Ashley says. . .When I saw the two tons of human hair, tears filled my eyes right away. Looking closely and seeing the different types and colors completely blew me away. I became so overwhelmed looking at the full braids that had been cut off girls’ heads and used to make rugs. I wore a braid today and I was so disgusted knowing that the hair in that glass case was exactly like mine.

Sarah P. says. . .Each pair of little feet came to Auschwitz in a small pair of shoes. These shoes weren’t ready for a long train ride or toe tapping with suspense as an officer chose the fate of family members. In a crowded room, many got ready for a shower and the little pairs of shoes were taken off and hung on an offered hook. Walking forward, 10 little toes had no rubber soles to cushion the walk through the tall crowd. As they believed the small pairs would be dangling from hooks when they got back, many pairs were left without their original owner.

DaiQuan says. . .As I began to walk into a camp named Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, I began to feel alone without my freedom to live. When I was walking in both camps I was trying to picture these actions taking place as we were told the story. Some of the people were told lies about where they were going. Also when the Jewish people were told to take off everything it made me think how bad they were treated, like animals and not humans.

Brenton says. . .On this very day, we ventured into the vast area where the former death camp existed during the Third Reich, known as Auschwitz-Birkenau. As I approached the intimidating entrance gate to the camp, a feeling of fear overrode my body. No matter where I was walking in Birkenau, watch towers stared me in the face, each spaced evenly 100 meters around the perimeter of the camp. As our group started to walk away from Crematorium III, I looked to my right, and observed a long chamber where victims took off their clothes, and at the end of it sat the ruins of the crematorium. Just to know how many people lost their lives right where I was looking is almost unimaginable because one would not want to believe that these atrocities occurred.

We ended the day with a celebration for Cherilyn's 17th birthday ! Happy Birthday Cherilyn !!

Day 9 - Part II - Auschwitz

2011-04-20T12:22:00.013-04:00

Our time in Auschwitz actually began last night, when we entered the town, passing by Auschwitz I, which is now a museum, and also passing through Auschwitz III, the industrial complexes of Monowitz and Buna. The hotel is just down the street. The town center is just down the street. It is impossible to believe that anyone who lived here during World War II can say they didn't know what was happening in these camps.

Also staying at our hotel is Stuart Abrams, a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow colleague of Bonnie Sussman, Colleen Tambuscio and Lisa Bauman, traveling here with 18 students from Avon High School in Connecticut. After dinner in the lovely Bavarian feeling hotel restaurant, our historian, Shalmi Barmore, gave an introduction to Auschwitz to both groups of students. How surreal, to be seated in a beautiful restaurant at Osweicim (Auschwitz), listening to Shalmi connect the rise of the Nazi party in Berlin and the Wannssee Conference to the killing factories in Poland. The Nazi party, who from the moment they gained power in Germany, included an anti-Jewish platform, never dreamed of the barbarian conclusion of their antisemitism.

The night sky is clear as we walk back to our hotel rooms after dinner, to try to sleep before our long day tomorrow.

Day 9 - Trsice

2011-04-19T16:54:00.038-04:00

Our day began with a short drive to Trsice. We were greeted in a traditional welcoming ceremony at the city hall which consisted of tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it into a bowl of salt before eating, followed by a sip of plum brandy [not a student option]. We were ushered into the meeting room and introductions were made. Mrs. Leona Stejsksalova was recovering from surgery and unable to be with us today, but we were well taken care of by her Deputy Mayor Antonin Glier. Our relationship with the mayor of Trsice, Mrs. Stejsksalova, continues to develop as we work collaboratively to complete the memorial project at the site of the underground hideouts that hid the Wolf family for those three unimaginable years. Our friends, Dr. Karel Brezina [a child during the war who witnessed the Wolf family entering and exiting the hideouts] and Mrs. Zdenka Calabkova [the young daughter of Marie and Oldrich Ohera who helped hide the Wolf family in their home and who we call Mrs. Ohera] also greeted us and told us their stories. A new facet to our relationship with the community of Trsice was the presentation of a special pin by Colonel Zuffa-Kunci of the Czechoslovak Legions in Olomouc, to our group’s leader Mrs. Tambuscio, in recognition of the special relationship which has developed between the Czech people in the Olomouc region and American students through the Holocaust Study Tour program.

After the presentations we stopped briefly in the town’s museum and met with its curator, Mr. Sehmalek. In a large book, students were asked to sign their names under their school name so that the town could add pictures and a story about our visit. In this small museum is also a display about the Wolf family and as we studied the photograph of Lici Wolf, we noted the striking resemblance between Lici and her grand-daughter, Helen, who we had met in Prague a few days earlier.

We next walked to the restaurant where the town hosted a lunch for the entire group which consisted of Czech meatball noodle soup followed by steak with gravy and an egg on top, fries, ham, and purple and white cabbage. During the lunch they gave every one of us a present: a light blue T-shirt sporting the Trsice frog, the town symbol, which is derived from the name of the landlord of the area whose name in Czech translates to “frog”.

Our next stop was the house where the Wolf family lived before the war. Mr. Wolf had done accounting work in Trsice and he decided to move his family there in 1939. Crossing the bridge over the stream where the Wolf family washed their clothes while hiding in the forest, we climbed the steep path into the woods. Although some timber has been cleared in the last four years since our group first saw the hiding place, we still get a sense of how dense the trees once were and how this frequently became a dark and secluded hideout for the Wolf family. We had the sense of how scary it must have been for the Wolf family at night to hike out to get food and water and wash their clothes; how physically close it is to the village but how, when you are in the forest, you feel totally isolated.

Our final stop in the area was the small town just next to Trsice, Zakrov, where the Wolf family was hidden by several families during the war, including Mrs. Ohera’s family. As we stood before one of the windows of her childhood home, Mrs. Ohera explained that as a child even she had not known that her parents were hiding the Wolf family. She also described the night of April 18, 1945, when soldiers raided the town and rounded up nineteen men, including Otto Wolf, her father, and her future father-in-law, as a response to increased partisan activity in the area. These men were tortured over the next two days and then were driven into a nearby forest on April 20^th and executed. Zakrov does not have its own cemetery so the victims are buried in the cemetery of Trsice, but the town erected a memorial to these victims. Each of the names is listed on the memorial with a photograph, and we noticed the resemblance between Otto Wolf and his niece, Eva, who had spoken to us in Prague earlier, about her mother, Lici.

Throughout the entire day, our Czech guide Ilona Zahradnikova from Prague, was indispensable. As the sole interpreter for the group, she did yeoman’s duty as she translated stories and questions from Czech into English and English into Czech.

We bid farewell to our hosts, promising to return next year to establish the memorial to the town of Trsice for its rescue efforts, and climbed on the bus for a three hour ride to our next destination: Oswiecim, where tomorrow we will visit Auschwitz.

Student reflections in response to the following question: Of all the people we met today, and all the places we saw, describe one person or one place that stands out the most to you and explain why.

Ashley: Mrs. Ohera - because even though there was a language barrier, it didn’t matter because through her emotion and her voice you could hear. It was a tragic time for her and she remembers specific details to the point that it didn’t matter …you got the gist of it.

Sadie: The hideout in the woods – because my perception was that we weren’t going to really see anything, but when we got there we saw the two giant gaping holes where the Wolf family hid. And the fact that they hid here for three years was so strange and hard to believe for me.

Lily: The pathway to the hideout - because I compared it to a pretty girl who has been through hardships; within is dark terror, but people still say she’s pretty. You have to look within – for example with people, you don’t know what’s going on in their minds or their homes; people go through many obstacles in life. The same is true with the woods; it’s a regular forest but within there’s a history and past terror

Cherilyn: The woods around the hideout – because I kind of picture myself in the Wolfs’ place, walking where they once walked, and it’s remarkable to me.

Reagan: When Mrs. Ohera took us back to the spot where she had lived, and went through every detail of this traumatic event in her life. It’s really rare; takes strength to go to the place where her father was captured and tortured and recount every detail so we could understand what it was like. It was so moving, chilling, listening to those details.

Kassandra: Mrs. Ohera – because she went through such terror and fear. I tried to put myself in her shoes but couldn’t – to be able to tell such a story. When at the house where she lived, I saw tears on her face, and couldn’t stop listening. It was so overwhelming at such a young age to go through that.

Brenton: The Colonel from the Czechoslovak Legion – So many things go through your mind like the Nazis being in uniform and though the Czech uniform was different I thought of the role of the military.

DaiQuan: Lunchtime – because I felt like we were all part of the Wolf family. We all came together to eat a meal after they told us the story; it was like a family.

Jordan: The hideout - because being there and knowing what they went through in the tunnels and the luck with meeting all the right people who could help them – that was amazing!

Nick: When Mrs. Ohera took us to her childhood house – because the image of how the soldiers were sticking guns in her mom’s face and her mom holding their hands hit me. I thought of my mom and me and my brother holding her hand – I wouldn’t know what to do in a similar situation.

Sarah S: Mrs. Ohera at the memorial in Zakrov - I saw her remembering her father and the look in her eyes as she was looking at her father – so upset – and after, she shook our hands and was smiling like she was really happy. I couldn’t comprehend how she could go from seeing her father’s grave, basically, to being all happy. I felt the connection she had with her father - and practically on the anniversary of his death.

Celina: Hiking through the forest - because I saw a guy in a WW2 outfit on the hill against the background of the forest and I thought, “that’s how it would look when the Wolf family was there”. I know the guy was actually wearing a Czech uniform, but they were similar. It was kind of surreal – I almost felt like I was there watching a soldier looking for the Wolfs.

Sarah P: A series of moments resonated for me. In the beginning Mrs. T greeted Mrs. Ohera and I saw her face when she was doing that; I hadn’t understood how important it was for her [Mrs. Ohera] to bring students to hear her story, and later, by her house, when she was telling us things that had happened to her family. A museum or textbook can’t tell that raw story or fact and cause that emotion. You could really see and feel it with her.

Michelle - Mrs. Ohera - she was such a young girl and it was such a horrible story and she was sharing it with us. I felt as if I was in her place. You can't find that in a textbook. I felt the same I did when I was near the hideout walking through the narrow woods and finding the two holes. I couldn't imagine hiding at all, no less three years.

Frankie: The Holes in the side of the hill - because I couldn’t imagine being in there at all, and they got locked in there. And I thought of Dr. Brezina because in a way he also saved them; because he saw them going in and out and didn’t say anything. God forbid he did because he could have turned them in.

Sammy: Getting off the bus and seeing how happy they were to see us even though they didn’t know any of us [students]. I pictured it every other place we had been - - welcoming but I didn’t really feel warm like here. Here I felt like she was my grandma. When she was shaking our hands - she shook my hand and she was really holding on to it. Also seeing how eager she was and wanting to tell her story to get it out there. What really amazes me was how excited she was and when she was telling her story, I was listening to Ilona but looking at her to see how she was reacting to it – the look in her eyes when she would jog her memory; going far back in her mind. I couldn’t do that because nothing like that has happened to me – yet she remembers it perfectly.

Casey: The Hideout – because of the walk through the woods – it was so pretty and then you got there and saw two holes caving in and there used to be people living there; they had to hide there. It put into perspective how hard it was.

Greg: Walk through the woods – because it felt almost like a weight on me because I knew what was in there. As we went further in the forest it gets darker and darker just like when you look at something pretty but inside it’s not so pretty. Like when I fell into a thornbush - I still see the marks on my hands and I almost hope they scar a little because I want to have a physical memory – pictures don’t do it justice – for it to be my memory of when the Wolfs lost people and the town lost people

Deanne: I looked back to my past - and with her she didn’t know where he father was going. I thought about my family and how this would have affected me.

Mackenzie: The hideout - because I felt I connected with the Wolf family. No book, test or movie can prepare you, and I related it the Anne Frank’s house – you can’t understand until you have been to her house. And also as other people were talking of Mrs. Ohera, I thought of my own grandparents who were kidnapped and held hostage during the Iran-Iraq war for 6 months. And I thought about how her father had been taken and felt connected. Luckily my grandparents survived their captivity but I kind of knew what it was like to have family locked up and tortured.

Theresa: Mrs. Ohera’s description of the night of the raid - I thought of Mrs. Ohera’s mother with a gun pointed to her head and I thought of my own mother, and even if we fight, thinking about her like that – if that were to happen to her, kills me. I can see it in her face and can’t wait to see my mom and give her a big hug.

Jessica: Mrs. Ohera’s smile - I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived. And then she came up running to us and hugging you guys and I thought, “This is nice”. And later at her house she wanted us to know so badly - pointing to the memorial “That’s my father” . She didn’t have the same language as us but she wanted us to know so much and she opened up to us and invited us to share her story.

Day 8 - Prague to Olomouc

2011-04-18T16:59:00.019-04:00

We ended our stay in Prague and enjoyed a restful and educational bus ride to Olomouc. After a two hour nap and a rest stop, Shalmi explained the Jewish celebration of Passover, since the Jewish community of Olomouc has invited us to their community seder this evening. Because there are only four Jewish students on this trip, many of us have never been to a Passover Seder.

After lunch in Olomouc, our Czech guide, Ilona, gave us a walking tour, the fifth largest in the Czech Republic.

We walked to the Jewish Community building, and were greeted by Petr Papousek, the head of the Jewish Community of Olomouc. He told us his life story, and how he grew up not even knowing he was Jewish until after the Velvet Revolution in 1988. His grandfather, Milos Dobry, first told Petr his stories of surviving the Holocaust, even though he had never told his children. Milos, who is 88 years old and frequently speaks to student groups, then told us his story of surviving both Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. It is thanks to Milos Dobry that the Jewish Community in Olomouc is thriving today, and it is also thanks to Milos that we know about the rescuers of the Wolf family in Trsice.

Following the inspirational testimony by Milos, we entered the dining hall of the Jewish Community and had a wonderful Seder experience.

Day 7 - Prague

2011-04-17T12:23:00.015-04:00

We then went into the recently opened Lobkowicz Palace. The Lobkowicz family is one of the most important of Czech nobility whose estate and property were very, very extensive. They lost their property twice in recent history: once to the Nazis, and once to the Communists. They retrieved it in 1989 after the Velvet Revolution, and recently opened it to the public as a museum. Inside we had an intimate look at the inside of palace life, and especially at the Lobkowicz's contribution to culture: music, painting, and architecture.

After lunch, we walked through the Lesser Town, saw the John Lennon wall, crossed the Charles Bridge into the Old City of Prague, and saw the Clementinum, the Jesuit campus. The Jesuits were called in after the 30 Years War to head the spiritual and cultural revolution initiated by the Catholic Church in what was to be the counter reformation. Their main role was in rebuilding education in order to disseminate the principles of the Church. This was the first case of a cultural revolution that caused ambivalent attitudes within Christianity.

Day 6 - Prague: Part II

2011-04-17T12:21:00.007-04:00

We had the opportunity this evening to meet Eva Vavrencka, the daughter of Felicitas (Lici) Wolf Garda. Lici was the sister of Otto Wolf in the Diary of Otto Wolf (required reading prior to the trip). We discovered Eva a few months ago through the author of Salvaged Pages, in which Otto's diary is published in English. We were able to make contact with Eva through her daughter Nicole who is living in the United States. We told her all about our project in Trsice where we have been working with the local community to further commemorate this story by building a memorial. This memorial will mark the site of the underground hideouts in which the villagers of Trsice hid the Wolf family for three years during the Holocaust.

We are so grateful that Eva, who has never spoken in public about her family's history, was willing to meet with us and share more details. She met us at our hotel where the staff graciously offered us a conference room in which we were able to speak with Eva in an interview-like setting. We discovered many new aspects of the story including that Otto's diary was smuggled out of Czechoslovakia and brought to America in the 1970's by Lici's half brother, Thomas Mandl. Eva was able to give us insight into Lici's post-Holocaust life. She described Lici as an eternal optimist who also treasured life, and forced other people to fully appreciate it as well. Although Lici did talk to Eva about her time in hiding, she never dwelled on the past and encouraged everyone around her to do the same.

We are very excited about continuing our relationship with Eva and her family to further our goals in honoring the Wolf family story. Next year when we complete the memorial project we are hoping that Eva and her family will be in attendance for the formal dedication.

Day 6 - Prague

2011-04-16T11:34:00.037-04:00

Our busy day began with Holocaust survivor Pavel Stransky, our dear friend, who told us his "Holocaust Love Story."

Kasandra says. . .Today our group met with 90 year old Holocaust survivor Pavel Stransky. He explained to us the story of his past and how love and hope helped him all the way to survival. This story of fear, torture, but also love really touched me and brought me to the conclusion that Pavel is not just a man with many stories, love and hope, but he is a man with SOUL! It really opens my eyes to how much we take for granted and persuaded me to now say that LOVE is the most important thing in life! Thanks Pavel!

Sarah S. says. . . love, rejection, loss, love re-found. The telling of Pavel's story and his verbal visuals created an emotional and nostalgic atmosphere in which I remembered my history--my grandfather's story and the story of my connection to the importance of remembering.

The students were very moved not only by his story, but by his willingness to share his entire day with us at Theresienstadt.

Casey says. . .At Theresienstadt we walked through the tunnels used by soldiers during World War II for a quick escape from the concentration camp. Inside the tunnels was dark and scary --- you never knew when there was a turn coming up or if you were going to walk into a wall. Exiting the tunnels hit me hard, though, because at the end of the tunnels was where prisoners were executed by firing squad, electric chair or were hanged.

Jordan says. . .Today at Theresienstadt [the work camp], we took a walk through the underground tunnels which were used by Nazis soldiers to travel around the camp quickly. When we came out of the tunnel, the first thing we saw was a small area where Nazi soldiers did shooting drills, but it was also where many of the executions happened. Before the prisoners were killed they had to decide how they were going to be executed; either by electric chair, firing squad or being hanged. I cannot imagine having to make such a horrible decision because the outcome of my choice that was made would be the same: life-ending.

Lilibeth says. . .In Terezin at the Magdeburg barracks where art, music and literature were displayed, I felt all six million Jews and their stories. In some complex way, music and art express what words often can’t; it shows a different side of people and that side is real and hurting but in a way that gives understanding and clarity. The pictures showed a mix of emotions - despair yet also hope. It gave me a clearer understanding of the Holocaust through an artistic viewpoint. Everything is more vivid, live, real; not so black and white when you feel it all around you, as if walking in their shoes. Nothing will be the same again.

Saidie says. . .When entering Thesienstadt, the pain and suffering of the victims struck me, every aspect, building, room, left me with tears in my eyes and pain in my heart. One feature that affected me the most was the underground tunnel, turning and winding in darkness only providing little light to see. The walk through felt about 30 minutes to an hour long when in actuality it was only 10 minutes, exiting to the location of Jews and other prisoners being shot by the firing squad, hung, or electrocuted. The intensity, despair and depression of the sight was and will remain astonishing.

Jessica says. . .It’s amazing how during the Holocaust sheer humanity was disregarded. Going through the Terezin Ghetto Museum that displayed the artwork of children and others made me realize how much the Nazis didn’t care. They didn’t see the Jews as talented people who played instruments, sang, or painted. They were numbers and nothing more.

Mackenzie says. . .As we entered the Theresienstadt concentration camp, I had the unique privilege and opportunity to sit on a bench with Pavel while we discussed the emotional effect of his revisiting the site that took so much away from him. When I said, “This is so crazy, seeing the camp,” he quickly responded, “People are crazy.” Though such a simple statement, these words say so much. People truly are crazy -- the human mind is capable of virtually anything, yet it is up to the individual to decide just how crazy they will be. This remarkable man also said that “one cannot survive without hope –without hope we are dead.” These words deeply touched me, for I have endured my own personal hardships in which the only thing I had left was hope. Pavel Stransky is a lovable, generous and wise 90 year old man who has forever touched my life.

DaiQuan says. . .The quote that touched me the most was when Pavel said “You must have hope. Without hope things die.” It made me understand that if you want to see good things happen in your life, you must have hope.

Reagan says. . .Tears. A man about five foot three inches tall inspired me to tears with his story. His strength to even recount such a darkness is as surreal as the experience he endured. Pavel Stransky could move mountains with his words.

The walls display many works of the talented musicians, artists, and writers who were kept here.

Celina says. . .The Terezin Ghetto motto of "I'm alive as long as I am creating" struck me as a clear echo of what really transpired in the ghetto. The artistic beauty that emerged from t he ghetto seemed absurd to me because i never understood how this beauty could thrive in such an environment. But with this saying, I am able to more fully grasp the meaning behind the art, music and culture of the Terezin Ghetto

Michelle says. . .Pavel preached about the importance of love in one's soul. If a man that experienced such great hardships and still believes in love and life than there is no excuse for anyone to not. After Pavel's story, all my personal struggles seemed to dissipate. After putting everything into perspective, I realized that if you are still breathing at the end of the day, it is a good day.

Ashley says. . .We visited the Lidice Memorial and saw the memorial to the 82 Czech children who were murdered by the Nazis. I saw 82 different children, 82 different faces, 82 different voices all asking the same question, Why me?

Greg says. . .Lidice was truly beautiful today, yet that beauty was not enough to mask the truth of what happened there. On that beautiful plot of land are 82 statues of Christian children who were put in gas chambers by the Nazis.

Cherilyn says. . .As I stood in Lidice and I looked over the open land where the town once stood I couldn't believe how such atrocities could have happened in a place of such beauty.

Shalmi translated a Hebrew diary entry by Czech composer, pianist and conductor of Raphael Schachter, that captures the complexity of life here in Theresienstadt:Today milk froze in the pot. The cold is very dangerous. The children do not take off their clothes and the lice multiply in the teenagers' dwellings.

There is the premiere of “The Bartered Bride." The presentation was the most beautiful I have seen thus far in the ghetto.

My sister Minsi whose husband died in the fortress, is summoned with her children to the transport. I will appeal, but will I be successful? If not, what will I say to her? Minsi will surely be cross with me. My uncle is also on the reserve list for the transport.

My quarters where I live are getting nicer and nicer. One should see a woman's hand [meaning he had a new girlfriend].

This photo shows Shalmi translating from Schachter's diary.

Theresa says. . .Being in the Terezin today I have never felt more uncomfortable and more interested in my life. It was such a mix of emotions just thinking about what happened there and I think it will definitely impact how I view the world in the future.

Francesca says. . .I remember talking to Mrs. Bauman and I had asked her why they had a pool in the Small Fortress in Terezin. She told me that the head officer would sometimes use it but when it was empty it had a different use; they used to put fathers and sons in there and force them to fight until death all for an extra piece of bread. Then I thought of how pools today are used for pleasure and that during the Holocaust they were utilized as a weapon of devastation. I don't think I will ever be able to look at a pool the same way again.

Deanne says. . .Pavel Stransky's story really moved me today and going to Terezin with him made the day even more special. In particular, what we saw I the Small Fortress, solitary confinement cells, false sinks which never had water and the places where people were murdered really sickened me.

Sammy says. . .Pavel Stransky's story truly moved me and brought me to tears. Looking at this 90 year old man and his strength and courage to carry on with his life as well as educate others really had an impact upon me. Hearing a survivor story first hand really brought me back in time and caused me to think about my life and how I will look at things differently after hearing Pavel.

Sarah P. says. . .The Holocaust gave chances to some while it took them away from others. The Nazis were given the chance of control which almost completely destroyed the Jews' chances to live. By telling their story, those who survived offer the chance for humanity to change- the chance to distinguish the paths of progress from those that lead to evil.

Brenton says. . .Toward the end of Pavel's testimony he asked “What is the most important thing in life?” He responded by saying “the love between a man and a women is the most important thing in life.” I connected his closing theme to family because after reflecting on his story and my own life, I realized my family would always pull through and be there for me, just like his wife was for him.

Nick says. . .No longer a person, just a digit. In front of the Terezin Concentration Camp lie fields filled with graves of those who died. Many of the tombs had only a number. No name. No epitaph. Simply a digit. It is the ultimate stripping of identity: suppressing one's religion, isolation of person's into a camp and the deletion of one's name.

Tonight we rode the funicular up the hillside to our restaurant overlooking the magical city of Prague.

Day 5 - Prague

2011-04-15T12:22:00.023-04:00

After a late night of Skyping with New Milford High School, we slept soundly, and woke up to our first full day in the beautiful city of Prague. We began the day with our guide Kamila and Shalmi walking with us to the Jewish Quarter, located just off of the Old Town Square.

Shalmi told us about the Old New Synagogue, built in the thirteenth century.

Once the synagogue of the famous Rabbi Loew, which shows the gothic architecture, and to this day has the remains of the legendary Golem in the attic.

After learning about the Jewish culture of Prague in the Jewish Museum, Shalmi talked to us about the entry of the Nazis into Prague. One of their first acts was to make all Jews register. Unknowingly, they were aiding the Nazis in making lists in order to round them up to deport them at a later date.

Following this, we entered the Pinkas Synagogue, which today is a memorial to the 88,000 Jews from Bohemia and Moravia who were murdered in the Holocaust. The walls of this moving memorial are covered with the names of each of the victims. Each of the towns in which Jews lived are listed, alphabetically, and then the names of the victims from each town are listed, with their date of birth and date of death. All of the names have been painstakingly hand-painted and cover the walls on the three floors of the museum.

After leaving the Pinkas cemetery, we entered the old Jewish cemetery where Jews had been buried from the 14th century through the 18th century. As was the custom, given the limited space for burials, graves were dug one on top of another so that the Jewish cemetery has between twelve and fourteen layers of graves, which explains why the headstones are so close together and appear to be placed haphazardly and askew.

For lunch, we ate pizza and salads near the Jewish Quarter, then continued with our tour in the Spanish Synagogue. Built in 1868, one year after the Jews of Prague became citizens, this ornate synagogue reflects their pride in their elevated economic and social status.

Since we were not allowed to photograph inside, click this link for photos.

After a lovely pasta dinner, we returned to the hotel to debrief, and plan to get a good night's sleep to prepare for our very special day with Holocaust survivor Pavel Stransky.

Day 4 - Berlin to Prague

2011-04-14T16:35:00.018-04:00

Our busy day began late due to a traffic jam in Berlin due to the NATO meeting held here this morning. We visited the Jewish Museum of Berlin, which was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

To view pictures of the museum and its architecture, click here.

Shalmi spoke to us about a theme of Liebeskind involving "voids"--a term that signifies the absence of something that once was present. To Liebeskind, his architecture in this museum shows the absence of Jews in Europe after the Holocaust. Shalmi again spoke of the one-sided love affair and the love that Jews felt for Germany before the Holocaust. He said that Germany,as does a former lover, jilted the Jews, and dumped them, completely rejecting the one-sided love the Jews felt for their country. For Shalmi, this museum poses one question - does Germany miss the presence of Jewish culture in German society? Is there lack of presence felt as a void by modern German society?

We looked extensively at the history of antisemitism in Europe. Two statues personify the Church, Ecclesia, and the Judaism, Synagogue. These depictions illustrate the antisemitism through the blindfolded Synagogue holding a broken lance.

One of the exhibits within the Jewish Museum is called "Fallen Leaves." The video above shows us walking on the steel faces which represent Jews whose lives were lost during the Holocaust.

After our four hour train ride from Berlin to Prague, we ate dinner at a beautiful, Czech restaurant with traditional Czech entertainment.

Theresa says . . .

Today we visited the Jewish Museum and one exhibit really stood out to me. The exhibit “Fallen Leaves” was really different, but it had so much meaning behind it. In one of the “voids” of the museum was a dark hallway with thousands of steel faces carved out that covered the floor. At first I didn't realize what they were until Mr. Barmore told us to walk on them. I went reluctantly and felt really uncomfortable walking on faces that symbolized Jews who died in the Holocaust. The noise was also so loud which made the experience even more eerie. The more I thought about it, the exhibit being called “Fallen Leaves” almost made the exhibit seem unimportant. As we all know, leaves fall every year, and it's a natural thing that we almost look forward to. With an exhibit signifying the Jews who died in the Holocaust being called “Fallen Leaves,” it makes the Holocaust seem like a natural thing that happens a lot. It is the total opposite. The exhibit made me feel uncomfortable but it also evoked so many emotions that I didn't know I could get out of one single exhibit.

Kassandra says . . .

While in the Jewish Museum, our group visited the exhibit “Fallen Leaves.” This being one of the “Voids” really created a lot of emotion for me. Right when we had walked into the room, which was basically a hallway with steel faces covering the ground, I got hit with a feeling of sadness and guilt. I had these two emotions because of the opportunity of being able to walk across the hall. When everyone was walking you can hear the loud clinging sounds of the steel. But to me, it was something different. When walking across with the others, I was trying to be so careful as to not step hard on these faces. As I continued walking slowly, I could hear the loud clinging sounds getting louder, but to me, that sound wasn't just metal being stepped on. To me, it was the sound of peoples' cries and screams of being tortured, and their spirits stepped upon. Because of this feeling of disrespect and guilt, I began to get very emotional, just about at the verge of tears. It was and still is amazing to me how one simple exhibit or memory can touch someone so much!

Nick says . . .

Today, in the Jewish History Museum, we found ourselves confronted with an art exhibition representing a void -- a void that supposedly represented the hole in German society created by the vast numbers of Jews lost during Hitler's reign. Previously, when speaking of the ardent Jewish desire to assimilate into German society throughout history, Shalmi remarked that the relationship between Germany and the Jewish community was like an unrequited love. During the Holocaust, it was as if Germania, the female symbol of Germany, sadistically attempted to end the relationship forever.

Following the Holocaust, one needs to look at Germania and her feelings: did she feel satisfaction that the removal of the Jews [in their one-sided love affair] had nearly been accomplished? Or did she truly feel a void in her life by the loss of her lover?
It is a vital question when evaluating the modern, "new" Germany: are the "missed" Jews really missed by Lady Germania? Does she truly feel guilty for her cruel deeds? Or is she simply putting on a facade of guilt in an attempt to make herself appear more kind in the eyes of others? All are questions that can apply to Germany today, but only time will reveal the true sentiments of Lady Germania.

Day 3 - Berlin

2011-04-13T11:36:00.034-04:00

Today began with Steve Conner (HST Alum from '08) meeting us at our hotel. Steve is studying abroad in the Netherlands and took a train in yesterday to join us for a few days. Our first stop was Grunewald Train Station, the site where many Jews of Berlin were deported to concentration camps that included Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. This memorial shows the dates of deportation, the number of Jews deported and the camp to which they were sent.

This memorial was commissioned by the German Railway to address their role in the Holocaust. Students viewed this memorial in the drizzling rain.

From here, we went to the New Synagogue, which was opened in 1866. The architecture resembles the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain, with its Moorish architecture.

Outside, Olaf pointed out to students the memorial stones that are embedded in the sidewalks throughout Berlin which they had not noticed.

These stones commemorate the Jews who lived in Berlin, and tell what date and where they were deported, and their fate.

These four stones commemorate the Schneebaum family, and are located outside the apartment building where they lived before they were deported. They all died at Auschwitz.

After lunch, we walked to the Rosenstrasse Memorial.

This site recognizes the brave Christian women, whose Jewish husbands and children were arrested during the Factory Action, in February of 1943, when the Nazis swept through Berlin in their efforts to make it "Jew Free". These women, whose husbands and children were being kept in the former Jewish Community Center on Rosenstrasse street, stood outside in an unarmed, quiet protest, demanding the release of their families. Despite Nazi efforts to make them go away, they did not give up, and Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda decided to release them to prevent a public relations nightmare and prevent additional protests.

We spent the next two hours in the Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind. In this factory, the blind and deaf employees made brooms and brushes out of horse hair and pig hair. Otto Weidt also employed Jews here. Otto used the Berlin Work Act to legally keep employing his Jewish workers during the war.

Otto protected his Jewish employees by hiding four members of the Horn family in a secret room built behind a wardrobe closet. Inside the false back wall of the wardrobe, behind clothing, was an opening into the room where the Horns would sleep at night and hide during Gestapo inspections. After eight months of hiding, the Horn family was betrayed and deported to Auschwitz, where they were all murdered.

Our guide explained to us how Otto Weidt helped hide Inge Deutschkron, who is the survivor who preserved and documented the rescue efforts as a tribute to the memory of this heroic man.

Link to the Otto Weidt website

We ended our day at a new exhibition and memorial for the Berlin Wall which came down in 1989, leading to the reunification of the city of Berlin. Shalmi spoke to us about how many of the students' parents would remember this history very well, and also explained the Cold War and how East Germany had decided to build the wall in 1961 after 2.8 million residents of East Berlin had fled to the democratic West, to prevent further emigration which was an embarrassment to the East German government.

Student reflections...

Deanne says...

Grunewald train station had a big impact on me. While I was standing there, I was thinking how a train is an everyday transport to work or a vacation. It is supposed to be something happy. Well, that’s also what the Jews had in mind. Before the Holocaust, they went on with their everyday lives, traveling on trains. They didn’t know, however, where this train was taking them. This trip had not been planned by them and had an uncertain destination. It makes me think about my travels and where my transportation takes me and for what purpose.

Ashley says . . . .

We just left Grunewald train station from where many of Berlin’s Jews had been deported. The train cars were not cattle cars so the Jews were not crammed together; they were almost filled with a false hope, I feel, because conditions were not as bad as they could have been. Standing on the platform and reading the numbers of people who were just like me, made me think really deeply. I just keep picturing and imagining myself standing on that platform where a mother stood with her daughter. I keep seeing my mom next to me, holding my hand, checking to see if my sisters, brother and I were okay; holding my hand waiting to board the train that will take us to an unknown destination, with a smile hiding her own fear so we would not freak out. I can’t even begin to fathom how the Jews really felt because even just trying to imagine the experience of standing there with my family filled me with fear and brought me to tears.

Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind really hit home for me. My best friend is blind and seeing how Otto Weidt had the heart, as a non-Jew, to save Jews who were not only hated for being Jewish but also because of a disability they could not have prevented. Throughout the workshop tour I pictured Shafeka walking around back and forth between the rooms and the expression of security on her face, knowing that Otto Weidt was there to take care of her and protect her. I tried to imagine her sitting at the desk, making brushes with the machines, that were simple enough to figure out without Braille.

Day 2- Berlin

2011-04-12T11:55:00.040-04:00

On the bus ride to a modern memorial in the Bavarian Quarter of Berlin, Shalmi lectured about the background of Nazi Ideology. He explained that it is based on science of the 19th century, when scientists like the German Humboldt brothers and Charles Darwin began asking the question, "How (empirically) do things happen in the world?" Their theories about species and the survival of the fittest were the impetus for later sociologists and scientists to link their theories to racist theories. When all of these ideas mix together, and the Nazis apply them to the Jews, then they label Jews as racially inferior.

Shalmi Barmore gives insight to the students at the Bavarian Quarter Memorial. Once at the Bavarian Quarter, a neighborhood of Berlin where Jews once lived, we viewed a modern memorial which consists of signs with pictures on one side and anti-Jewish laws or rules on the other. Shalmi led a discussion in how some of these laws came from the top down--such as "Jews can't use public telephone booths"-- and some came from the bottom up--such as "No Jews are allowed to sing in choirs." It is important to realize that the Nazis set some laws in place, but community members in Germany also made their own anti-Jewish rules.

Frankie reacts to the Bavarian Quarter Memorial. Bavarian Quarter Memorial Website - Click Here Later we toured part of the German History Museum, where Shalmi contextualized the history of Nationalism in Germany, which had its origins in 1806 when Napoleon defeated the Germans in the battle of Jena. Shalmi told a story of the German composer Beethoven, who in 1803 composed a symphony for Napoleon who had just ended the Holy Roman Empire and became Emperor. He titled it "The Emporer Symphony;" however, in 1806, following German defeat, he retitled it "The Eroica", wishing to disconnect it from Napoleon. During the years 1826-1845, due to the Industrial Revolution, the German population rises from 23 million to 32.7 million. People, including Jews, moved from the country farms into cities, where factory jobs were. Jews, who were literate, cosmopolitan and engaged in commerce, came to Germany wishing to assimilate, beginning a "one-sided love affair". The Jews loved German culture for its music, art, and literature. However, German Nationalism was rooted in Romanticism and was based on history. Shalmi explained using a tree analogy, saying that Germans like composer Richard Wagner, saw a German as one whose roots were German. He did not believe that famous German composer Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, even though he was born a Christian (his father had converted), was not German. Wagner, and other Germans who were applying the racist scientific principles, would not reciprocate the love for Jews.

DaiQuan and Mrs. Lisa Bauman discuss secret Nazi documents concerning the Wannsee Conference. After a stop for an authentic German lunch, including schnitzel, German potato salad and cucumber salad, we went to the Wannsee House. While sitting on the back steps overlooking the beautiful lake, Shalmi talked to us about the three phases of The Twisted Road to Auschwitz. Phase I, 1933-1939, to legitimize the Nazi government, all policy decisions needed to be based in law. The first task was to identify who was a German, and Jews were not allowed to be German if one or more grandparents was Jewish. During this phase, the Nazi government "encouraged" the emigration of Jews. Phase II, 1939-end of 1941/beginning of 1942 with the Wannsee Conference, Nazis focused on the process of gathering Jews of Poland and other European nations into ghettos for possible further removal to Madagascar, and killing the Jews of Russia through mobile killing squads. Phase III, 1942-1945, the decision to implement the decision to kill all the Jews of Europe, which included the technology and bureacracy of the process of death.

Student Reflections

Celina says... As I stood on the street in the quaint Bavarian Quarter and looked around me, I saw that it was a completely modernized, new, Berlin, one where I wanted the chic apartment on the corner. I closed my eyes and tried to bridge the past, to see Kristallnacht happening around me. I felt transported into history in a way that I had never felt before. The lives and stories of the Holocaust are still alive and speaking to those there to listen. It is truly a living breathing history that is unlike any other historical site I have ever experienced. The life that the Holocaust has taken on encompasses everything in Berlin to form a time machine that whisks me back to a different time.

Sarah says... Venturing out on this trip, I anticipated learning strictly about German history pertaining to the events of the Holocaust. Today proved to entail more information about the country of Germany before. It can be admitted that the drastic and severe circumstances make it hard to look at any other historic attributes of Germany’s past. However, visiting the German Historical Museum provided details that would be looked past when only studying Holocaust details. Many attributes of Germany’s early historic period linked to the future without direct reference. Explained through photos, artifacts, paintings, and detailed descriptions were details pertaining to the middle class of the 19th century and the creation of the national identity of Germania. All of these experiences contributed to the experience of being immersed in the foreign surroundings of a fascinating country with a long strain of impacting history.

Brenton says... Just to know that I stood on the same porch that Hitler’s top ranking officials did to approve “The Final Solution” is an unexplainable feeling. It just seems so unreal that a horrific plan could be put into place at a beautiful site such as the Wannsee House.

Casey says... Today at the Wannsee House we were brought to the back of the house overlooking the lake of Wannsee for Mr. Barmore to give us a lecture about the history in the house. I was shocked to come upon the house being in an upper middle/upper class neighborhood, while it held thehistory of such atrocities being planned.

Day 1 - Berlin

2011-04-11T11:13:00.034-04:00

After an all night flight from the states, we began our day by meeting our German guide Olaf at the airport and immediately began learning about the wonderful city of Berlin. As we drove to the hotel, Olaf explained some of the history of the city of Berlin, including the East-West division post World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Once at our hotel, we met up with the group from Bishop O'Dowd in Oakland, CA. Shalmi Barmore, our historian for the entire Holocaust Study Tour greeted us and we were on our way to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. While there, Shalmi discussed the meaning of this modern memorial in the "center of the center of Berlin". In contrast to traditional memorials this modern memorial is purposefully ambiguous; we are not told what it is- we are free to judge and walk inside and experience it. After having time to interact with this outdoor exhibit students had the following reactions: Sammy Bell - The memorial symbolizes that Jews during the Holocaust did not know what to expect: around the corner you meet the unexpected like when someone ran by me inside the memorial and it startled me.

Greg Winkler - You felt more trapped as you descended into the memorial, it was harder and harder to get out.

After experiencing the central memorial, we walked across the street to the memorial in the park dedicated to the homosexual victims during the Holocaust. One of the issues discussed here was that the memorial itself seems to be hiding. This exhibit broaches the ongoing modern discrimination of the gay community worldwide.

We ate lunch at Potsdamer Platz and then went to the newly opened exhibit - The Topography of Terror - the site of the bureaucratic machinery that carried out Nazi policy including the SS and the Gestapo. Tomorrow Shalmi will lead us in a morning discussion that will address the essential questions surrounding Berlin and the "Final Solution" which will frame Day 2.

Holocaust Study Tour 2011

2011-04-05T20:37:00.002-04:00

Thanks for signing up to follow our blog. This year's Holocaust Study Tour will begin April 10. Our first post will be after our first full day in Berlin, April 11. Stayed tuned.

Documentary Now Available Online - CLICK HERE

2010-07-20T00:01:00.009-04:00

The Holocaust Study Tour 2010 Documentary is now available to be view online at the following web address:

http://web.me.com/junejohnnie/HST_Documentary/HST_2010_Parts_1_%26_2.html

Day 16 - April 21, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-21T12:07:00.029-04:00

When we were driving to Auschwitz last week, as Eva told us about the death of President Lech Kaczynski, she alluded to John Donne's famous "Meditation 17" in which he states, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Today, we touched the famous bell in the tower of Wawel Cathedral, which rang on Sunday, the day of Kacynski's funeral mass and burial in the crypt inside Wawel. The belief here is that by touching the clapper of the bell and making a wish, the wish will come true. Most of our group probably wished to go home as soon as possible; however, due to our extended stay, we had another wonderful day in Krakow, thanks to Eva, our guide.

We were welcomed by teachers and students at a university preparatory high school, V Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Augusta Witkowskiego, established in 1871 by Franz Joseph I. We attended two English classes, during which our students conversed with the Polish students and asked questions about each others' culture. We also viewed a safety demonstration, and toured the biology classroom, which was complete with a Nemo fish and a chameleon, among many other habitats and live animals. The teachers gave us all Krakow donuts, which they said were the equivalent to Dunkin Donuts. They actually were better: a little less sweet, and a little more substantial, with raspberry filling.

We spent the afternoon touring Wawel Castle, which dates back to the middle ages, and was restored completely in the early 20th century before World War II. We admired the many fabulous, elaborate tapestries which were woven in the 16th century, along with paintings and furniture from the renaissance time period.

Going into Wawel Cathedral, we walked past the wreaths of flowers from different countries that were sent for the funeral of President Kaczynski. Inside, we saw the sarcophagi of many Polish kings, queens, and important Polish leaders. Most surreal, however, was walking through the crypt with the sarcophagus of President and Mrs. Kaczynski, viewing the cold marble, the golden inscription, and the etched cross on the top. After watching the funeral on CNN and being in the streets of Krakow during the funeral procession, actually descending the steps into the crypt felt eerie. Here we were, in line with other Polish citizens, touching the sarcophagus, and mourning the death of their leader with them.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." How fitting for us, teachers and students seeking history, seeking the truth about the Holocaust and the past. Living history in the present, and creating memories of a lifetime.

Day 15 - April 20, 2010 - Krakow, Zakopane

2010-04-20T14:11:00.020-04:00

Girls from the Chawatselet Jewish gymnasium in Warsaw ride in a horse-drawn wagon during an outing in Zakopane. [Photograph #29029]

Marian Ament goes skiing at a resort in Zakopane, Poland. (Photo #22584)

Every day is a new adventure. Today our guide Eva (who has also become our best friend in all of Poland) took us to the highlands, Zakopane, Poland, where her mother's family comes from, and where she still vacations very often. Located only two and a half hours from Krakow, in the beautiful Tatra Mountains, Zakopane is a quaint, beautiful part of this amazing country, Poland. The teachers on the trip had heard of the town from looking at images of pre-war Jewish life on the United States Holocaust Memorial website in the photo archives (http://www.ushmm.org/). Zakopane has been a vacation town for Poles for decades.

On our way, we passed by a very famous train museum, where many historical steam engines are kept, including the one used by Steven Spielberg when filming Schindler's List. As we wound our way up the foothills of the mountain, we stopped at a lovely Catholic church, the Spotted Salamander Church, built completely of wood, in the Zakopane style. This ornate style combines carpentry that uses no nails, but tongue and groove joints, and hand-carved decorations and figures. Inside the church are stations of the cross, hand-painted on glass, an art form perfected in Zakopane.

Once in the town, we stopped for lunch at a typical restaurant, serving highlander food. We enjoyed soups with sauerkraut, mutton and potatoes, potato pancakes (they have a better Polish name), Russian dumplings (pierogi), and other delicious, traditional food. However, all the boys in the group chose to go to the Pizza Hut down the street. They said the pizza was excellent.

After lunch, we rode the funicular to the top of the mountain, where we were better able to view the Zakopane mountain range of the Tatra Mountains. Most spectacular is the "Sleeping Highlander," a mountain that looks like the profile of a sleeping man. Local residents erected a cross on the man's mouth, which looks tiny from far away, but is actually 15 meters tall and 5 meters wide, and had to be transported from Krakow to Zakopane by train. At the top of the mountain, we couldn't resist taking a ride on the alpine slide. Every one of us rode it, even Mrs. Sussman, Mrs. Tambuscio and Mrs. Bauman! We walked on the top of the mountain, seeing typical mountain homes for this region, with high-pitched roofs, attached sheds for animals, and even some chickens in yards. Eva told us that usually there are many tourists here, but because it is April and the off season, we are lucky and enjoy the views alone.

After riding the funicular down the mountain, we had about an hour to wander the local highlander craft booths, where homemade sheep and cow's milk cheeses, leather slippers, and hand-carved wooden objects were sold. It was truly a step back in time, and indescribably beautiful. We returned home to our hotel, while watching Eva's favorite comedy, "Mickey Blue Eyes." Tonight, we're ordering in pizza and skyping with Mrs. Tambuscio's class at New Milford.

Day 14 - April 19, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-19T12:36:00.015-04:00

Eva, our most excellent Polish guide, who is the queen of hospitality, took us to the local Krakow mall, where we divided into two teams, mostly boys (with the exception of Mrs. Bauman) vs. the girls. The boys (even with Mrs. Bauman) dominated the girls, although Libby and Becca were extremely impressive bowlers. We had a taste of home, with lunch in the mall at McDonald's, and a brief walk through the mall.

From there, Eva took us to her home in the outskirts of the city. What a beautiful, lovely home! She had snacks for us in her garden of fruit trees and lilac bushes, with lovely pansies growing in the window boxes on the patio and porch. Eva owns the movie, "Katyn," an Academy Award nominated film this year for Best Foreign Film, which was filmed in Polish, with English subtitles. We made ourselves comfortable in her living room and watched the movie together on her big-screen TV. As we settled in, Eva told us that this is what she remembers from her college days--her professors would invite students to their homes to watch films that they wouldn't have been allowed to watch at the university, under communism.

From this film, we learned more of the history of the Katyn massacre, through the storyline of Polish officers and their families. The film chronicles how the Polish soldiers were arrested and imprisoned by the Russians in late 1939. It follows their lives until the massacre in April of 1940, and through the end of the war into the post-war, communist Poland, when the Russians forced Poles to believe their propaganda that the atrocities were committed by the Nazis, not the Russians. After the film, Eva and her husband told us that when they were growing up, they were aware of the truth about Katyn, but were forbidden to talk about it. We highly recommend renting the film to learn more about it. What a wonderful experience, to be here in this historical city, watching a film at our Polish friends' house, and to see in the film the sights that we have been seeing throughout our stay in Krakow. How surreal.

Day 13 - April 18, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-18T15:23:00.018-04:00

What a momentous day! We are here, in the city that the world watched today, during the somber occasion of President Lech Kaczynski's funeral mass. The funeral, held live on TV from St. Mary's Cathedral, where we viewed the beautiful, elaborate altar on Friday, brought 1.5 million citizens to Krakow today.

After our morning buffet breakfast at the hotel, our students divided into their testimony groups. Each group interviewed a different Holocaust survivor when in Olomouc last week. This morning, student groups worked on three different computers at the hotel, and typed the testimony of their survivors.

After nearly three hours of work, we took the students to the nearby park for a picnic of sandwiches made in the hotel (since all businesses in Krakow are closed until after the funeral) and warm bagels we bought from a street vendor. While eating, we watched as many Polish citizens walked up the hill toward the square and St. Mary's Cathedral. We were right by a police barricade, and watched as a military parade marched by, along with two military tanks, and police escorted VIPS.

We went back to the hotel to watch the funeral mass on TV in the hotel lobby. Mrs. Bauman, James, Kayla, Victoria and Matt Bachmann went for a very brisk walk around the outskirts of the square just as the funeral mass let out. They passed many priests, nuns, Poles in traditional costume, and people carrying flags as they walked the streets back to the hotel. The entire group walked to the square tonight, passing St. Mary's Cathedral on our way to dinner. We stepped over the trampled tulips, daffodils and other flowers that were strewn in remembrance as the funeral procession passed earlier in the afternoon. After a dinner of Mexican food (yes, even in Krakow) and traditional Polish food, the group enjoyed ice cream cones together on the square as the moon shone above the buildings on Krakow square.

Day 12 - April 17, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-17T14:11:00.023-04:00

After a wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel, we travelled together to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, located just outside of Krakow. We figured that since we couldn't go up into the sky today as originally planned, we would go down into the ground. As we descended the many, many, many flights of stairs, we were reminded of Dante's Inferno. This mine has not been active for seven years, and is now only open for tourists. However, at one time, dating all the way back into the middle ages, this incredibly huge mine in the depths of the earth was fully operational. Salt, once as valuable as gold, helped to make Poland a rich country.

Oh the wonders we saw: chapels, dance halls, a cathedral, and many other rooms, tunnels and 6 full stories below the three levels that we walked through.

We had a lovely lunch at a very Polish cafe across the street from the mine, then travelled back into Krakow to the Jewish Cemetary that was opened in the late 1800's. Because it is Shabbat, we were unable to go inside, however we talked about the synagogue and the cemetary before heading back to the Wawel Castle area.

The weather here was gorgeous: sunny and in the upper 60's. We walked to the Vistula River below Wawel Castle and watched the swans in the river. We saw the infamous Krakow fire-breathing dragon below the castle. Mr. Chang told us his version of the Krakow Dragon legend: A dragon was terrorizing the kingdom until a peasant put sulfer inside the belly of a disguised lamb. When the dragon ate it, his stomach blew up and pieces of the dragon's scales dispersed all over the banks of the river.

Walking back to the main square, the arrangements for tomorrow's state funeral for President Lech Kaczinski were evident. Steel barriers lined the streets to contain the expected crowds, and banners were stretched across the street with the Polish emblem, pictures of the President, and floral wreaths. Upon reaching the square we saw it had been transformed since yesterday. Two jumbotrons had been set up and a mass in Warsaw for the President and First Lady was being broadcast as large crowds of Poles and tourists watched. The main market building, Cloth Hall, which has been under reconstruction, had been painted, and hundreds of chairs had been set up for the guests for tomorrow's funeral. After watching the mass for awhile, we located a wonderful small pizza restaurant and ate dinner.

Upon returning to the hotel, students were engaged in a scavenger hunt in which teams of students were required to take photographs of a list of items. The winning team consisted of Kayla, Erin, Nick and Matt.

Day 11 - April 16, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-16T11:39:00.018-04:00

Today our guide, Eva, took us to see the historical sights of Krakow. Walking through the hallways of Jagellonian University, one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the world, we were told about the work of Copernicus and even saw his written work and instruments used to determine that the earth revolves around the sun. At eleven a.m., we watched from the central courtyard of the University as the astronomical clock played music and the wooden professors marched regally out and back into the doorways of this historical clock. At noon, we entered St. Mary's Cathedral, where the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski will be held on Sunday. Eerily, we viewed Kaczynski's photo at the altar of the church. A nun in full habit, a common sight here, ceremoniously pulled open the huge wooden, elaborately carved wooden doors of the altar, revealing many scenes in the life of the Virgin Mary.

After lunch, we went to the 20 foot memorial cross for the victims of Katyn. This massacre of Polish prisoners of war, who were captured by Russians, was commited in 1940 when the Nazi mobile killing squads were systematically killing Jews in these same regions. For 60 years the Polish people did not know for sure what happened to these soldiers because the Russians blamed the deaths on the Nazis, and the Nazis blamed the Russians. In fact, the Nazis used the evidence that they found of the Russian killings as anti-Russian propaganda during World War II. At the foot of the memorial cross lay thousands of flowers and candles for the victims of the Russian killings in 1940 and for the victims of the horrible deaths in the plane crash on the 70th anniversary of the deaths in Katyn. Only in the year 1990, the Russians finally admitted their guilt in these killings. However, there are still thousands of Polish deaths that remain a mystery. Their families still do not know what happened to them.

Being here at this momentous historical time for the country of Poland defies description. Here we are, studying the Holocaust, and now, at the end of our journey, we face this sorrow and the repercussions of World War II again. History is complicated, and this incident reverberates in our hearts. Many people suffered during World War II and families are still suffering today.

Day 10 - April 15, 2010 - Krakow

2010-04-15T11:33:00.033-04:00

Our day began in the Jewish quarter of Krakow, Kazimierz, inside one of the many synagogues in this area. The nobility of Krakow invited the Jews here in the the 14th and 15th century as eastern Europe began selling more supplies to the growing populations of the central European cities like Prague. The nobility found it useful to bring Jews to Poland and give them privileges as well as protection. The Jews provided services for the nobility, such as collecting taxes and helping with commerce necessary to prepare the land in order to plant crops such as wheat. Shalmi helped us to understand the relationship between the nobility and the Jews. The nobility promised the Jews not only protection, but also a monopoly on the selling of alcohol in this territory. Jews became the tools of the nobility, who didn't like them, but needed them. However, this put the Jews in a precarious position with the local serfs, who were Catholic. The Jews were central in the advancement of this area; they were necessary, not liked, but tolerated.

As the middle ages progressed, Jews came to this area in huge numbers. They were visible, because of their Hasidism, and kept their religious practices, which also set them apart. They closed their businesses on Saturdays because of the Sabbath, and opened them on Sundays. They wore clothing and earlocks which set them apart in appearance. Their identity was very deeply connected to their religious practices and beliefs. Unlike the Jews in Germany and Prague, the Jews here did not assimilate; they acculturated. By 1919, this caused problems with Poles who wanted to be identified by their nationality, and did not see Jews as a part of their nation, but instead saw them as outsiders. By 1939 in Poland the Poles have a very grave relationship with all minorities here, including the Jews. Some helped Jews, some killed Jews, but most were bystanders who saw the Nazis as solving a Polish problem.

Today, Poland is beginning to face the Holocaust and changing into a new Poland, largely due the influence of Pope John Paul II. Shalmi spoke of a historic homily given by John Paul II in his hometown in the big town square, when he described his childhood friendship with a Jewish neighbor with such warmth that Shalmi could feel the animosity of Poles begin to melt away. Currently there are only about 100-150 Jews living here in Krakow, and ironically, now the Poles are dealing with this history of the Holocaust unlike ever before.

After visiting many synagogues and the Jewish cemetery, we went to the Galicia Jewish Museum, which was initiated by British photographer, Chris Schwartz, who came here to capture Jewish life as it was with his photographs. He packed his little car with all his belongings, and drove to Krakow because of his vision to open this museum. Now the museum is flourishing; his artistic, beautiful pictures and captions hanging around the outide walls, with an active bookstore, education room, and coffee shop. This is truly the continuance of Chris Schwartz's vision, a man who took a risk, and now unfortunately lives only in our memories.

From here, we went across the Vistula river to the Krakow Ghetto, where the Jews of Krakow who were of value to the Nazis because of their ability to read and write German, as well as work in their factories, were forced to move. While looking out the windows of the Krakow Ghetto Pharmacy onto the memorial square with chairs representing the furniture that the Jews had brought with them, Shalmi told us the inspirational story of Polish pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz whose diary documents ghetto life. The Krakow Ghetto was a sleeping ghetto, where the Jews slept at night, and worked outside of during the day. The Jews ran this ghetto, and built the walls surrounding it in such a decorative way, showing their resilience and belief that this ghetto would be a new protected area, where they would be able to ride out the war. In Pankiewicz's diary he describes the day when the ghetto was liquidated and the Nazis told the Jews they would all be going to the Plaszow Camp. However, when it was time to line up, the children were put in a separate line. Some mothers refused to leave their children and stood in line with them. Other children cried out to their mothers across the square, which is now a memorial, asking why they were alone. They wanted their mothers. The mothers told their children not to worry, that they would join them the next day. However, most knew the horrible truth. This would be the last time they would see their precious children. How was it humanly possible?

From here we go to the Plaszow Camp, within the Krakow city limits, across the street from what now is a car dealership. The memorial towers above us, as we climb the hill in the rain. While in the Krakow Ghetto pharmacy, Shalmi had told us about his first experience taking testimony. He went to the home of a family friend who was a doctor at Plaszow. He sat down in his father's friend's living room, and took out his tape recorder and asked him to tell him about the Plaszow camp. The man said, "Shalmi, you want me to tell you about Plaszow, when there (pointing to his wife) is this woman who left a child there?" Shalmi simply wound the cord around his microphone, packed up his tape recorder and left. He told our students: "This was my first experience taking survivor testimony."

At the top of the hill by the memorial, Shalmi leaves us with his final words: Take everything with a grain of salt and a sense of proportion. That was then and this is now. Use your knowledge to make your lives better. Many people came out of the Holocaust and made beautiful lives. We must make sure that our lives are good.

Nathali says:

Not just a simple, average ghetto, this was a Nazi ghetto. People. Average people, who were categorized by the Nazis as an "inferior race" and forced to leave their homes. These people had to carry the most they could--chairs clothes, jewelry, whatever belongings--on their backs and into the Krakow Ghetto. Why? For being born into an "inferior race." Nobody in this planet has the ability to choose their family, yet the Nazis believe otherwise and showed no mercy, not even to the young. Children were not spared and on the final days of the ghetto, all inhabitants were gathered and seperated into two lines. Men and women in one, children in the other. Both were supposedly heading towards the same camp. No matter how hard I try, I cannot even begin to comprehend what the individuals in the either of the two lines were thinking or how, after seeing so much cruelty, these people did not see the inevitable, how they did not see or do something. How is it that their instincts did not tell the parents it would be the last time they'd see their children alive?

Nick says:

As we trudged through the muddy path towards Plaszow, the towering memorial came into sight. Once we reached the top, Mr. Barmore explained the significance of the sight, and we looked into the horizon where a concentration camp once stood. Due to the inclimate weather, we were unable to walk around Plaszow, but this did not take away from its meaning. Just before leaving, I noticed broken glass scattered in front of the memoiral. Later, Mr. Chang pointed out marks of swastikas that were drawn directly on the memorial. It became evident that antisemitism still exists, and the thought disgusts me.

Matt Berner says:

When walking through the Jewish quarter of Krakow today, I made connections to my own life. In the first synagogue, seeing the various religious items, it reminded me of my own items that I have in my home, like the shabbat candlesticks and the hanukiah. It brought back memories of my own life thinking about how the quality of Jewish life is so good. Seeing the spice boxes for the Havdalah ceremony I remember when I used to make Havdalah instead of fancy silver boxes we used the shakers that the spices came in. We did this on Saturday night to end Shabbas. We would smell it, light the Havdalah candle and sing a prayer to end Shabbat, putting a different twist on a old tradition. They lived in a ghetto in Poland, they set up their own walls, and in the United States obviously you don't have to live in a Jewish community to be Jewish. Mr. Barmore was talking about how Poland was like the United States back then, the land of opportunity where Jews were provided with everything they needed. I felt like there have been similarities between them, and everyone could have made a living without considering their religion. In Poland, like the United States, there were successful people and not so successful people. Not every Jew was rich, and not every Pole was poor. It was really dependent on the quality of the job that was done.

Day 9 - April 14, 2010 - Auschwitz/ Birkenau

2010-04-14T13:07:00.008-04:00

Our day began with a rainy drive to Auschwitz at 6:30 a.m. Our Polish guide, Eva, framed the current sorrow of Poland by speaking of the state funeral for the Polish President and his wife that will be held here in Krakow on Sunday. Eva's historical framework then led to Shalmi's introduction of Auschwitz as another planet, a term coined by a survivor describing the camp while testifying at the Eichmann trial. Auschwitz, a camp surrounded by civilization: homes, businesses, factories, churches, all signs of human life, not alien life. How then was it possible for a man like Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, a bureaucrat and true believer in Nazi ideology, to work his 9 - 5 day, then go to his villa, spend the evening with his wife and five children, and listen to Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner? Here, where Hoess and the Nazis killed 1.5 million Jews and other victims.

Inside Auschwitz I, originally a camp for Polish political dissidents, now a museum, a trained guide led us through the prison blocks, each of which now houses the common, everyday belongings of human beings who suffered here. What is left behind from the piles of suitcases are personal items: toothbrushes, eyeglasses, hairbrushes, clothing and shoes. From our studies, we know that before being deported, these helpless people were given little time to pack for whatever journey lay ahead. These items, including the sandals with the red, white and blue braided straps, show that the people coming here had no idea what fate awaited them.

Our guide led us through the prison block with two standing cells, in which four prisoners would have to stand in a three by three foot square throughout the night, and then go to work each day. Also in this block was the starvation cell of Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish priest who volunteered for this punishment in place of a man with a family. Through his actions, he saved the man's life. Kolbe survived the two weeks of starvation, but then was given a lethal injection and killed.

We then proceeded to the crematorium, beside the gallows where Rudolf Hoess was executed in 1947. While gazing at the gallows, we could see the villa of Hoess to our right, a picturesque scene like something out of a movie, and to our right, we could see the building housing a hospital and canteen for the SS officers. Once again bringing to mind the perplexing question of the identity of these men who worked here and committed these acts, and how was this humanly possible.

After a short break, we travelled about a mile to a place that defines modern murder in its most brutal form of the 20th century. As we crossed the bridge, we could see the labyrinth of rail tracks. Shalmi described this place as a death factory, where the only raw materials were human beings. As we looked from the infamous tower, Shalmi pointed out the Terezin family camp, where in September of 1943, a transport of 6-7,000 Jews came. These Jews were sent immediately to this family camp without going through selection. Three months later, 10,000 more Jews from Terezin came and again they were also sent to the family camp. This was an anomaly, however it gave us an understanding what influence people could have had, because the Danes had asked the Nazis where their 400 Jews would be taken and what they would be doing. The Nazis, being asked the question that no one had asked before, held off on the destruction of the Jews from Terezin, which begs to ask the question what would have happened if every nation had asked about their Jewish citizens. The day following the Red Cross visit to Terezin, all of the Jews living in the Terezin family camp were sent to the gas chambers. We listen and think about our friend Pavel Stransky, and the survivors we met in Olomouc, who are now our friends, were once here and managed to survive.

At the end of our tour at the sauna, ironically the starting point for prisoners here who were selected to work, Shalmi left us with the profound and disturbing thought: If this is true and if humanity is capable of doing this, why would any person want to start a family and have a child born into this world? How could anyone want to? . . . Why do we come here? Why do we study this history? What does it mean to say we will never forget?

Erin says:

. . .As I walked through the barracks of Auschwitz, I was overcome with emotions of sadness, anger and confusion. I was sad because of the many different items I saw in the blocks. They belonged to a person or a family and it was probably likely that these items belonged to someone who did not survive. This made me think about how so few people did anything to stop the Holocaust. How was this possible? This continued to anger me throughout the day. . .

Becca says:

. . .When I first walked into the block that contained human hair, I walked out. I could not help but cry as I pictured this being me or my family forced to have our heads shaved. When I saw the baby clothes and tiny shoes I shed more tears and thought, how could someone be so cruel toward innocent babies...

Tim says:

...At Birkenau Mr. Barmore stopped at a barrack and started talking about how too much power can lead to horrible things. He connected this to how the guards at Birkenau were given so much power that they would humiliate and degrade the prisoners regularly which caused some of them to commit suicide. He also said they would become so bored that they would create these games to humiliate and degrade the Jews as a source of entertainment. I thought back to elementary school when kids who were popular got bored, they would make fun of the kids who were not popular simply because they could...

Libby says:
. . .I imagined each lock of hair, belonging to a different victim. I imagined beautiful women as their hair was being shaved, and they could do nothing. I imagined Jewish Rabbis with shaved faces, looking to the ground seeing their self-defining beards. We continued seeing the objects taken from victims such as glasses, prosthetic limbs, shoes, clothes, kitchenware, babies’ clothes and brushes. . .
Kayla says:
….I tried to imagine myself in their shoes as I walked through Auschwitz. What surprised me the most was the roads. They were rocky – like concrete – but the stones weren’t finely ground; like half concrete and half jagged rocks. My shoes were thin so I could feel every rock as I stepped on them. Then in my mind I switched my five layers of clothing to thin, striped cloth pajamas, stripped of personal belongings. . .

Nathali says:

...Everywhere I went in Auschwitz I kept asking myself, "How on earth could people survive this place?" One aspect of the horror of Auschwitz wasn't the buildings, it was the social conditions -- having 1,000 people share one bathroom and one shower. Today it struck me that no one or very few children under 15 lived. All these innocent children went straight to the gas chambers, it broke my heart...
Matt Berner says:

…With the earliest wake up call of the trip, and walking in the cold and rain, I was not in the greatest mood. Yet I couldn’t help but think that the weather was perfect for our visit to Auschwitz. Walking past the barbed wire, electrified fences and through the gate, I felt immediately thrown into the experience, and viewing the mounds of hair, glasses and brushes that are being preserved was a scary realization of the number of people that had also come through this gate...
James says:

…Today we did the ‘stations’ of Auschwitz. As we walked along the train tracks, I could feel what the prisoners must have felt. I felt afraid, scared and confused. When we got to the selection area, all that went through my mind was, “Would I have lived? Or would I have been set to my death?” I was scared of what my fate might have been. I experienced all these emotions though there was no threat to my safety. I have great respect for all those who experienced Auschwitz and survived...

Victoria says:

...What really struck me was the sick way in which the inmates were used, manipulated and tortured. The inmates contributed to the construction of the camp by digging the drainage ditches. They paid for a train ticket which brought them to the place where they were murdered. In addition, I could not believe that insurance companies insured the facilities at Auschwitz against damage. This brings up the questions we discussed: “Who was responsible? Were the monstrous Nazis responsible? Or were people like us, just doing their job, such as driving the train or opening the gate, responsible?”...

Matt Bachmann says:

…I won’t be able to comprehend what I saw for a while. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t stand to be in the blocks. I couldn’t look at the things left behind; everything that belonged to those that perished. It gave me an idea just about how many people died there in that brutal camp. This has indeed been one of the saddest days of my life...

Nick says:

...Walking into Auschwitz was like a nightmare; we’ve all heard stories but none of us are truly able to comprehend the essence of such a treacherous place. Entering Block 4 gave me a better understanding, on a very small scale, of what the victims in the Holocaust experienced. Seeing the piles of hair behind the glass made my heart drop. I noticed the feeling was unanimous; there was silence in the room and not a smile in sight. We went on to visit Birkenau where the rain and dark, cloudy sky set the perfect mood for the dreary afternoon...

Day 8 - April 13, 2010 - Trsice

2010-04-13T16:21:00.019-04:00

Today we experienced the hospitality of Trsice, a small village a few miles from Olomouc, where the family of Otto Wolf was hidden for three years during the Holocaust. As we drove to City Hall, we passed the frog sculpture, representing the town crest, that sits high on a hill overlooking travellers. We were greeted by the Mayor Leona Stejsksalova and her assistant in the traditional way, with bread, salt and plum brandy. After a tour of the new historical museum, including the dungeon, the mayor led us into a conference room where our special friends, Mrs. Ohera and Dr. Brezina narrated the Otto Wolf story. Thanks to our friend and guide, Ilona, we were able to understand all of our Czech friends because today, as yesterday, she translated continually for us. Dr. Brezina was a small child when the Wolfs were hidden in the woods, and he remembers the shed that Slavek, one of their helpers, would lock them in during the day. One day Dr. Brezina, then 7 years old, heard voices inside the shed and tried to get in, but suddenly the voices stopped. It wasn’t until later that he found out the Wolf family had been hiding there. At the end of the presentations, the mayor presented each of us with a T-shirt specially made for our group, of the new frog sculpture with the name of the town, Trsice.

The Mayor then led us to the Trsice cemetery, where there is a memorial to Otto Wolf and the 18 other residents of Trsice and Zakrov who were killed April 20, 1945 because Nazis suspected them of being partisans. Eerily we approached this cemetery and images from the pictures that Mrs. Ohera had given us of the procession in May of 1945 flashed through our minds.
The Mayor treated us to a wonderful lunch at a quaint restaurant of Trsice. While there, Mrs. Ohera identified people from the pictures that she had provided for Mrs. Tambuscio. After lunch our bus travelled the 2 kilometers to Zakrov, where the Ohera family still lives, and where her parents hid the Wolf family in the spring of 1945. Down the street from the Ohera home, we viewed a monument for the 19 young men who were arrested, tortured, locked in a barn and burned to death. As the rain drizzled, we stood in silence, thinking about Otto Wolf, whose diary we all read back home in Kansas, California, and New Jersey. Now we stand here in the Czech Republic, meeting people who knew the Wolfs, standing in their home towns, and seeing the field and forest where the Wolf family hid.

We travelled into Poland, where they are observing a national week of mourning for the President Lech Kaczynski and other government and religious leaders who were killed in the tragic plane crash last weekend: a sobering atmosphere for tomorrow, our day at Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Kayla says:

After reading Otto Wolf's diary, I learned that Otto Wolf had been murdered with eighteen other men after being tortured by Nazis. I didn't know, however, that the murders had been unwarranted. The Nazis had been sent to Trsice with a list of nineteen men suspected of being part of the resistance. However, the Nazis lost this list but instead of obtaining a new list, they simply took nineteen men at random who were between the ages of 18 and 40 and locked them in a house. Because Otto happened to be at the Ohera house in hiding, he was arrested with the other men. The men were then tortured and burned; some were burned alive. This made me realize that the Gestapo had been brainwashed to the extent where they did these heinous acts simply so it would not look like they were wrong. They were so committed to upholding their supremacy that they did not simply shoot these men, but tortured them first, creating martyrs.

Day 7 - April 12, 2010 Olomouc

2010-04-12T18:52:00.006-04:00

We left Prague this morning and arrived in Olomouc, Czech Republic at 1:30 PM on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Our plans for the day included interviewing three Holocaust survivors, two of whom had never given a recorded testimony and one survivor who was instrumental in re-establishing the Jewish Community of Olomouc.

On our way to the Jewish Communtiy Center our guide gave us a brief tour of the major town square. At the center we were welcomed by Petr Papousak and leaders of the Jewish community and began setting the stage for the three interviews. The three survivors arrived, Milos Dobry, Petr Beck and Charles Wolf and after formal introductions the students began the interview process.

The student interview teams were divided into three separate rooms for the interviews and the teachers and Shalmi Barmore circulated through the rooms monitoring the process and offered clarification and support when needed. Milos Dobry was interviewed by Victoria, Libby, Matt Berner and Tim in the synagogue of the Jewish Community Center. Milos was a survivor of Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Sachenhausen and is an active speaker in the Czech schools, universities and community groups. In fact, Milos is the survivor that we first contacted a few years ago to find the rescuers of the Wolf family in Trsice. In establishing the relationship with Trsice, he has played an integral role.

The next two groups had an opportunity to interview survivors of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz both giving recorded testimony for the first time. In one group, Erin, Natalie and Nick interviewed Petr Beck and in the other group Kayla, James, Rebecca and Matt Bachman interviewed Charles Wolf.

Prior to the trip, students had been assigned to an interview group and through the use of collaborative internet tools they developed a series of questions for the interview. Last night, the students engaged in a dialogue with Shalmi who as former Director of Education at Yad Vashem had extensive experience interviewing Holocaust survivors. He was able to communicate to students that interviewing a Holocaust survivor is a unique process and requires special skills and sensitivity.

At the conclusion of the interviews, all participants shared a homemade kosher meal which included Challah, Matzoh ball soup and a chicken dish, prepared by the generous members of the Olomouc Jewish Community.

Our students recognized the magnitude of this experience, which is the result of a conversation that we had last year with Petr Papousak. We were amazed to learn from Petr that there were more than 30 Holocaust survivors in the Olomouc community whom had never told their stories publicly.

From this conversation we continued a dialogue with Petr about preserving their stories by engaging our students annually in an effort to rescue this evidence for future generations. Upon returning to the hotel, students shared their interview experiences while Shalmi and the teachers were able to help students reflect upon the different reactions of the survivors and how the telling of the survivor stories was shaped by their emotions. After this discussion, students realized that they had become a part of a rare and unique opportunity to preserve history.

Becca says:

Meeting Mr. Wolf was not exactly what I expected; it was so much more. My first reaction at the beginning of the interview was, “This is going to be a long day!”. Mr. Wolf was answering our questions with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. He would not expand on any answer unless we specifically requested him to do so. At first I did not understand why he was being so stubborn and secretive, but afterwards I found out that he had been asked to do this interview last minute after the scheduled survivor became ill this morning. Mr. Wolf has also never spoken publicly about his experiences before! Something that caught my attention was when Mr. Wolf explained to us how he “stayed strong” and “kept going”. The time was during one of the death marches. He had fallen down and did not want to get back up. He did and this showed me his strength of character. Mr. Wolf thought he was lucky for surviving the Holocaust. Once again, I feel God saved him for a reason. Even though Mr. Wolf displayed a lot of humor during a serious interview, I think that this could have been his way of coping with his tragic past. I learned not to assume anything about someone unless you really know everything about him. Also, no one can totally relate to a Holocaust survivor because it was a real experience our darkest nightmares cannot compare to.

Erin says:

Today my group and I interviewed Petr Beck, a survivor of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. Going into the interview I was very apprehensive and nervous about what would happen when we met Petr, but I knew we had a job to do. As Petr went more in depth into the story of his life during the Holocaust, I couldn’t help but ask questions and continue to record everything he said, missing nothing. I felt extremely honored to interview Petr because he shared with us that he had never been interviewed this thoroughly before and never publicly, and told us things that he had not even told his wife and daughters about his experiences.

One moment that stuck with me the most was when I asked him about being liberated and he said that he was not liberated from a death camp but during a death march. As they walked, people were shot and killed in front of him and he decided to lie down next to their bodies and pretend to be dead. After dark, he got up and walked away. Later in the interview he said that he heard about a Czech Red Cross camp in Katawice and he wanted to meet other Czech people. When he got there he was unexpectedly reunited with his father, who was a doctor working in the camp, who he believed had died during the death march.

I believe opportunities like this come only once in a lifetime and I am just so happy that I was able to hear Petr’s story and share it with others.

Nathali says:

Today I received the chance of a lifetime to meet a Holocaust survivor. Everyone hears about the Holocaust and to most of us it is just facts and statistics. Most people don’t understand or thoroughly comprehend what happened. It’s not until you either see it yourself or hear from someone who was there, that you can truly begin to understand. Today I can say that I have begun to understand. Before today the most I could get from learning about the Holocaust was the numbers, facts and a few theories.

Today I met Petr Beck. When Petr was 15, he, his parents and older brother were deported. Their jobs, the few friends they had, all gone. Petr told his entire story, something he hadn’t told even to his wife of almost 60 years. During his three year imprisonment in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz, he told that he survived because of his profession. Having the skills of an electrician saved his life.

Petr was almost 18, had already lost his mother and older brother to the gas chambers and was almost starving to death. In a desperate attempt to save his life, after eight people in front of him were shot and killed, Petr couldn’t continue on in the death march and in a final attempt to live, he threw himself onto one of the dead bodies before him and pretended to be dead.

My group and Petr were total strangers. We had perhaps a few minutes of informal conversation and soon started the interview. There was nothing that truly obligated him to tell us his difficult story. I believe that he wanted his story to remain as his legacy …a warning to everyone.

The entire interview was surreal to me. I found it hard to believe that someone could go through all that and still sit before me in a collected manner and tell me a part of his life he had not shared with any others. I think that this was very brave of him to do this.

Victoria and Libby say:

Today we were given the wonderful opportunity to hear the story of Holocaust survivor, Milos. Upon meeting Milos, one of the first questions we asked him was “Have you changed your name?” We expected the obvious answer, “No.” Instead he answered that upon liberation he had changed his name from Gut, which is good in German, into Czech, making it Dobry. We were fascinated by this because most Jews ran from their heritage after the Holocaust; however, he embraced it. He denied his name Gut because its association to Germany. The Holocaust allowed Milos to become closer to who he was as a person, which displayed his strength.

Not only did we get to hear his story, we got to interact with history by interviewing and discovering his side of the story. We were honored to experience such a personal interaction because as we all realize today, our generation will be the last to discover for ourselves the truths of the Holocaust. As we saw the emotion on his face, we were in awe by the strength that he demonstrated while telling his story. When we asked him how he survived, he attributed his survival to “80% luck and 20% personal initiative.” We could apply this later on in life to know that we could only rely on ourselves to a certain extent. To display such resilience and to have that strength was part of the reason why he survived.

Midnight, 4/12/10

2010-04-11T17:58:00.004-04:00

Just posting late tonight about our meeting with Shalmi and the kids in preparation for tomorrow's journey to Olomouc to interview three survivors of Auschwitz, two of whom have never had their stories recorded. Right now, our students are still working diligently, even though we have not required it, to finalize their interview questions and their strategies for the interview process tomorrow. We are so proud of them!

Day 6 - April 11, 2010

2010-04-11T11:37:00.032-04:00

Our day began at the Strahov monastery, manned by friars who came to Prague in the 12th century from France, after they had returned from the Holy Lands, and sold their services as guards, bibliophiles (librarians) and book copiers/scribes. In the two fascinating halls of their library, one for the theological works, and the other for philosophical works, we saw an excellent example of how these church institutions were the depository and guardians of culture in Europe. This library contains over 45, 000 volumes of work dating back to the 10th century.

From our view at the top of the hill, we overlooked the spectacular view of Prague, and discussed its different units: The Castle Town, Lesser Town, New Town, and the Old Town which includes the Jewish Ghetto. All of these were in place by the 14th century, when Charles IV was the Holy Roman Emperor and Prague was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Next, we saw the Czernin Palace, which today houses the Foreign Ministry, and the Loretto Shrine, one of the finest baroque structures.

A former student of Mrs. Tambuscio's from Midland Park High School, Michael Finnerty, has been in Poland for the past month on business and decided to spend a few days with us in Prague, reconnecting with his prior Holocaust Sudy Tour experience, Mrs. Tambuscio, Mr. Barmore and now with this year's group.
Michael recalled the many themes and lessons from this experience and at one point led the group in a discussion about something that he still reflects upon today. While describing an ornate 18th century light post, Mike underscored for us the European insistence on both function and form in their culture. This light post in the center of the street, uses gas lights and must be lit every night by hand, and traffic must flow around it. Instead of modernizing, this beautiful structure remains as a necessity for function within beauty.

At the Prague Castle, we watched the changing of the guard, usually accompanied by trumpets. However, today, because of the death of the Polish president and other Polish officials in the plane crash, there was silence.

Continuing into the Castle premises, we saw a whole diversity of
architectural styles, beginning at the St. Vitus Cathedral, with its unique
gothic and neo-gothic architecture. As we walked through the king's palace, Shalmi explained the significance of manure in world history and how defenestration was utilized to punish individuals. We then went into the recently opened Lobkowitz Palace. The Lobkowitz family is one of the most important of Czech nobility whose estate and property were very, very extensive. They lost their property twice in recent history: once to the Nazis, and once to the Communists. They retrieved it in 1989 after the Velvet Revolution, and recently opened it to the public as a museum. Inside we had an intimate look at the inside of palace life, and especially at the Lobkowitz's contribution to culture: music, painting, and architecture.

After lunch, we walked through the Lesser Town, saw the John Lennon wall,
crossed the Charles Bridge into the Old City of Prague, and saw the
Clementinum, the Jesuit campus. The Jesuits were called in after the 30 Years War to head the spiritual and cultural revolution initiated by the Catholic Church in what was to be the counter reformation. Their main role was in rebuilding education in order to disseminate the principles of the Church. This was the first case of a cultural revolution that caused ambivalent attitudes within Christianity.

Libby says:

What impressed me most today was our time in the Strahov Library. The books and artifacts that existed in this library represented the "hands-on" learning that took place centuries ago. The library contained books, diagrams, models, and sketches that cataloged all forms of life. The monks who facilitated the library provided experiences that allowed for a multi-sensory learning opportunity. As I walked through the library I felt the connection of my learning on this trip to how learning was experienced as far back as the 10th century. I felt a sense of awe in the opportunity I was given to walk through the past, making a direct connection to the present.

Victoria says:

The St. Vitus Cathedral was a complete eye opener when I walked through the archway. I stood in awe as I approached this enormous, extravagant, and architecturally beautiful structure. As my eyes scanned the scope of the huge church, I wondered how long it could have taken to build such a place, as well as how the design contributes to Bohemian culture. Gargoyles were a prominent feature on the church and they were planned to guard the structure from the rain. As an aspiring architect myself, I was intrigued and inspired by the massive scale of this structure that was built so long ago. I wondered, where the materials and resources came from during the middle ages. I walked away reaffirming my desire to become an architect while admiring the beauty of an age long passed.

Day 5 - April 10, 2010

2010-04-10T16:17:00.024-04:00

Pavel Stransky, Holocaust survivor from Prague, met us for breakfast at the hotel before telling us his story of surviving both Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. After answering our questions, Pavel rode with us on the bus to Theresienstadt. On the way, Shalmi pointed out the curve in the highway where Reinhard Heydrich was killed. This story and the history of the area helped us to understand the town and fortress of Theresienstadt.

In this residential area which is still an active community and town, we entered a building which was once a barrack which is now a museum. We were introduced to the children's drawings which depicted daily life in the ghetto. This artwork again brought to the forefront the paradox that existed during the Holocaust.

Shalmi pointed out a piece of artwork in which a woman wearing a fur coat is picking potato peels out of a garbage pile, a surreal scene: a woman wearing a fur coat is scavenging for potato peels. Pavel guided us through the museum, including the model of the camp including where he stayed. He accompanied us from there to the Danish Synagogue, a hidden synagogue in the Danish area of the ghetto, which was just discovered a few years ago by a local resident.

From there we went to the what is known as the Magdeburg barracks, where the work of artists, composers and musicians is displayed.

These works were created during the final days of life before being deported to the East, Shalmi points out the irony of this situation: the legacy that these people leave behind is in the very cultural concept that the Nazis wanted to push the Jews out of....they are gone but this is still here; they chose to leave a legacy that they were part of culture, despite Nazi ideology that Jews were cultural viruses.

After walking through the tunnels of the fortress of the prison camp at Theresienstadt, and talking about the swimming pool which was used by the Nazi staff to entertain themselves by humiliating the inmates with diverse acts of sadism, as if camp routine was not enough, we boarded the bus to go to Lidice. This once was a very peaceful Czech village. The Nazis suspected Heydrich's assailants came from there. In retribution, they killed all the men of the village, sent all the women to concentration camps, and some of the children were sent to live in Germany to become "aryanized," or adopted, by German families. The remainder of the children were sent to concentration camps and killed. We walked across the green hillside to the memorial, sculpted in brass using actual pictures of the children of Lidice. The children's faces stare blankly into the distance, as if anticipating and fearing their futures. An eery silence came over the group as we stood before these children, trying to comprehend the question, "How it was possible for human beings to be so cruel?"

On the bus ride back to Prague, Pavel left us with these words: "One can never win over human stupidity, but one must never stop fighting it."

Becca says:

In anticipation, I woke up looking forward to meeting Pavel Stransky, an 89 year old Holocaust survivor. When Pavel told us his story of how he survived the Holocaust, I could not help but anticipate the suspense he made me feel wanting to know what happened next. In my opinion, I think Pavel is some kind of gift from God. Not only did he survive in the end, but he explained that there were many times he could have been the one sent to the gas chambers. Fortunately, Pavel kept getting saved. Some people could say he was lucky, but I feel Pavel was saved for a specific reason. It only makes sense to me that he was saved because of his intellect and loving heart. I was very impressed that Pavel is so happy and did not seem to have any regrets. He kept referring back to his wife, Vera. It was easy to tell he was madly in love with her by his facial expressions. When he got home he wondered if his wife was alive, and then he discovered she was at the hospital. This curiousity of her existence is what kept him alive. In conclusion, Pavel really caught my attention, and learning about what he had to go through really gave me a different view on life. I can't explain exactly because you can't get the same feeling if you have not met him. He basically taught me to appreciate every moment and everyone you love, because you could lose them at any given time.

Nick says:

After hearing Pavel Stransky's survival story, I was blown away. He referred to the genocide as not one Holocaust, but 6 million individual ones. Needless to say, Pavel overcame an immense amount of obstacles which no one could truly comprehend unless he or she lived as a Jew in the mid 20th century. Through the elaborate description Pavel included in his story, we were able to get a small sense of what each victim went through during the Holocaust. Looking into his eyes, one could see the desperation and years of suffering he faced in his life. In 1939, Pavel lost his father, who commited suicide, and only three years later was separated from his mother, whom he never saw again. He met the love of his life at the age of 17, and eventually married her, spending their "honeymoon" on a train to Birkenau. After miraculously making it out alive, he was sent to Auschwitz where he was told "Look into the horizon, the only way out is through the smoke in the chimneys." Again, he made it out alive and was returned to Theresienstadt. Once the war ended he re-entered society. I was amazed by everything he went through, and everything he said will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Friday, April 9, 2010 - Day 4

2010-04-09T17:26:00.016-04:00

We spent most of our day in the Jewish Quarter of Prague today learning the history of this beautiful city, and especially the history of the Jews here. Shalmi and our Czech guide, Kamilla, educated us on the kingdom of Bohemia, which was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire Charles IV. Because of his desire to turn Prague into a capital fitting an empire, Charles utilized the Jews to finance the building of institutions like Charles University and the Charles Bridge. Another paradox presents itself: The Jews live in Prague, yet they simultaneously live completely on their own, enclosed in the world of the ghetto next to the central market square.

We toured four synagogues, including the Old New Synagogue, which was led by Rabbi Loew, creator of the legendary Golem. In the Maisel Synagogue, Shalmi told us that during the Holocaust, curators of the Jewish Museum of Prague asked the Nazis if they could collect the religious objects that the Jews would have to leave behind when transported to the camps. Surprisingly, the Nazis allowed this, and to this day, there are thousands of religious objects in rows and rows above the ceiling of the Maisel Synagogue, catalogued meticulously by curators who assumed that one day they would be returned to their rightful owners.

From here, we silently walked through the Pinkas Synagogue, which bears a memorial to the 80,000 Jews of Prague and nearby towns who were victims of the Holocaust. Each person's name, date of birth and date of death is painted by hand on the interior walls of this synagogue and listed by the town they were from. The silence is deafening as one walks through the rooms of the synagogue and thinks about the people who were killed by the Nazis. Just outside is the old Jewish Cemetary, where we walked and learned about the several layers of people who were buried here due to the limited space permitted by the king. The last synagogue we visited was the Spanish Synagogue, with absolutely beautiful painted walls and ceilings done in an incredibly ornate, Moorish style.

Kayla writes:
Today I connected the life of the Jewish people in both Prague and Berlin by comparing the synagogues we visited in both locations. In each society, the elaborate synagogues made the most wealthy Jews more visible, but didn't represent the economic level of most Jews. Their affluence was reflected in their synagogues and personal property. Each synagogue, specifically the Maisel, the Spanish and the New Synagogue in Berlin, was elaborately decorated and designed. The Maisel Synagogue contains thousands of Jewish possessions which are either gold, silver, or decorated with gems. During the Nazi era these possessions were collected, catalogued and stored, but never returned to the Jewish owners.

Matt Bachmann writes:
The Jews in Prague were not noticed as much in society as the Jews in Berlin. By building a synagogue in Berlin with a golden dome, the Germans noticed their efforts to be recognized. The Jews in Prague did not assimilate into society as fast. As we went from synagogue to synagogue in Prague, from old to new, the synagogues got more modern, to the point where they were completely modern. The assimilation for the Jews in Prague went a lot slower than the assimilation of Jews in Berlin.

**Please note, previously we posted the summary separately and then posted student reactions as comments. Our posts will now include a summary of the day and student reactions. We will leave the comment section open for anyone outside the tour who wishes to comment.

April 8, 2010 Day 3 - Berlin

2010-04-08T16:49:00.010-04:00

Our long day began in Berlin and ended in Prague. As we reflect on our morning spent at the Otto Weidt hidden workshop for the blind, we remember the courage of this man whose brush factory was located in the heart of Berlin. He not only hired blind workers, but also hired Jews and hid them in a tiny back room of the factory behind a wardrobe cabinet.

From there we walked to the Rosenstrasse Memorial, an incredibly meaningful series of carved stones depicting heart-wrenching scenes of wives, husbands and their children. These images represent the courage of the Christian women of Berlin whose Jewish husbands and children were arrested by the Nazis to be deported. Because of their public protests on Rosenstrasse in front of the holding cells, the Nazis released these Jewish men and children and most of them lived through the war working at forced labor for the Nazis.

We studied the intriguing history of the Jews at the Jewish Museum, designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind. The tour included an impression of the meaning behind the architectural structure of the museum, as well as an informative lecture by Shalmi Barmore on the history of the Jews in Berlin.

After a quick bus ride and hurried lunch, we boarded the train for the 5 hour trip to Prague, and are eagerly anticipating tomorrow morning touring the Jewish Quarter here.

April 7 - Day 2 Berlin

2010-04-07T16:53:00.003-04:00

LAB said...
April 7, 2010

Our morning began with Shalmi Barmore explaining about the concept of identity and personal narratives. How people describe themselves tells a lot about how they view not only themselves, but also their view of history. Cities, like Berlin, a city that lives with its history,also grapples with their ghosts.

Travelling to the Wannsee

Villa on this gorgeous sunny morning, Olaf talked about the city of West Berlin and the beautiful area of homes near Wannsee lake. The meeting at Wannsee, which occurred January 20, 1942, consisted of Nazi bureaucrats who had been given the task of figuring out how to carry out the Final Solution. Again the paradox presents itself: In this beautiful setting, with a sunny lake just outside the floor to ceiling windows, top bureaucrats of the German government looked at Eichmann's typed list of the number of Jews in countries already occupied by Germany, and the countries that Germany planned to concur. These bureaucrats figured out the practical side of how to carry out the plan concocted by the Nazi officials.

From Wannsee, we travelled to the Grunewald train station, in a beautiful section of Berlin where big, gorgeous houses look out over the tracks where trains deported thousands of Berlin's Jews. We walked along this memorial that lists the day, month and year as well as the ghetto or camp where the Jews were deported, in plain sight from the windows of the beautiful houses near the tracks.

From there, we went to the Bavarian quarter of Berlin, a neighborhood where many Jews lived before the Nazi deportations began. Throughout the streets of this neighborhood, signs are posted which depict images and anti-Jewish legislation which show how the rights of Jews were gradually taken away. Along one street, an artist's mural depicts life in the Bavarian quarter during the late 19th century. Here we discussed the artist's interpretation of a man who is Jewish, and whether our interpretations of the picture is colored by our knowledge of anti-Jewish propaganda, or if the picture truly reflects the artist's sentiments.

2010-04-07T16:43:00.002-04:00

2010-03-08T13:30:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Holocaust Study Tour 2010 Blog!